Poor Little Souls
by Shadowfang14
Summary: Mike Schmidt knew the stories. He heard the rumors, of how the animatronic characters at Freddy Fazbear's come alive at night. How they go after every night guard who comes to work at the place-and how they then kill them by stuffing them into a suit. But with the help of an unlikely ally, he may live long enough to find out what's really going on.
1. Prologue

**A/N**: Hey guys, Shadowfang14 here! This is my first ever time writing an FNAF fic, or even a gaming fic at all, so I hope you like it. Those of you who've been reading my Creepypasta fanfic 'Poor Little Souls' might remember Ian from the Freddy Fazbear's subplot. Originally I was just gonna leave it at that, but before I knew it I came up with my own version of Mike Schmidt, then my whole verse, and before I could stop myself, I had a fanfic on my hands. FNAF has officially taken over my soul :/ Well, read and review, if you want! Flames will be used to make s'mores.

**Disclaimer**: I don't own the Five Nights at Freddy's franchise or any of the characters within, they belong to the wonderfully talented Scott Cawthon.

"_Hey! Don't push me!" The little dark-skinned boy glared at his twin sister as she took another slice of pizza. "That was the last pepperoni!" _

"_Sorry." The girl, Tricia, said, not sounding sorry at all. "You'll just have to be faster next time." Travis Greene glared at his sister as she took a bite. _

_"No fair! It's my birthday too, y'know!"_

_"Yeah, but I'm older by two minutes, so I get last dibs!" Tricia stuck out her tongue at her twin, and he glowered at her. __Across the table from them, their two friends were talking to each other._

"_Chica's my favorite." Hope, a blond girl of eight said. "How about you?" The half-Hispanic nine-year-old boy blushed as he answered_

"_I…I like Foxy. I've always liked pirates; they always seem so brave and fearless in the movies. I want to be like that one day." Travis snorted. _

"_Brave and fearless?! You?! Please Ian; you're scared of your own shadow!" Ian's blush grew deeper as he sank into his seat in embarrassment. _

"_Hey, leave him alone!" Hope stuck up for her friend. "Just because someone doesn't act all macho all the time doesn't mean they can't be brave!" _

"_Yeah." Tricia added. "You act tough, but I've seen you singing along to the My Little Pony theme song!" _

"_Shut up!" Travis snapped as Ian hopped out of his seat. _

"_Ian?" Hope asked. "Where are you going?"_

"_I…I have to go to the bathroom." _

"_Well okay, but don't take too long." Tricia advised him. "Our parents will be here to pick us up in ten minutes."_

"_Yeah, wouldn't want to miss your mommy!" _

"_Travis!" Hope glared at him, and Ian hurried off before his friends could see his embarrassment. When he was in the bathroom, Ian turned on the sink, splashing cold water on his face. He lifted his head, looking at his reflection in the mirror. Sad hazel eyes stared back at him. He let out a shaky breath, brushing a strand of light red hair out of his face._

_Ian the crybaby. Ian the wimp. He liked the others, but he couldn't feel but be ashamed that he was always so shy and quiet compared to them. Even Hope, who was a year younger than him, was more daring and adventurous. One day he'd seen a spider in his raincoat, and screamed loud enough to wake the dead. __**She'd**__ had to shake it out, and once it was gone, comfort him while Travis laughed his head off._

Why? _Ian thought. _Why am I always such a scaredy-cat? I'm sick of being the butt of everyone's jokes. _He clenched his hands into shaking fists, fighting back the urge to shed a tear. His friends would be wondering what was taking him so long. Plus his mom would be coming any minute now. _

_Wiping his hands on a paper towel, Ian walked outside and out to the table where he and his friends had been sitting…only to find that they weren't there. _

"_Huh?" He blinked in confusion. "Tricia? Travis? Hope? Where'd you guys go?" He looked around. No sign of them. He couldn't see any of their parents either, which meant that they hadn't arrived yet. _

"_Guys? Where are you?" A lump formed in his throat. _

No. Easy, Ian. Maybe they just went outside? _He started to move to walk outside, but suddenly a booming voice called out_

"_Hey there, little fella!" Ian spun around to see the figure of Golden Freddy standing behind him. _

"_Goldie?" _

"_That's right!" The animatronic seemed to beam. _

"_H-have you seen my friends anywhere?" Ian tried to keep his voice from shaking as he said "There's a pair of twins, and a little girl…" _

"_As a matter of fact, I have!" The golden-colored bear announced. "They're in back, waiting for you!" _

"_Huh?" Ian said, confused. _

"_I heard that it was your friends' birthday, so I got together with the cooks, and they baked a nice big cake for them! But when the cute little blonde girl told me that there were four of you in your little group, I made them promise not to touch a crumb until you could all enjoy it together! Now come on, they're waiting for you!" He offered the little boy his hand, but Ian didn't take it. He had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach-and it wasn't just because of all the pizza and soda he'd eaten earlier. _

"_I…I don't know…" _

"_Oh, come on!" Golden Freddy tried to encourage him. "They're all waiting for you! You like cake, don't you?" _

"_Well, yeah…" _

"_Come on, then! I promise, it's really good!" He ruffled Ian's hair. "You can trust me." Slowly, cautiously, Ian finally took the bear's hand and let him lead him to the back. As they passed the stage, heading for the back, he turned his head, seeing the Fazbear band preparing for their final show of the day. The place was about to close. Ian's heart started to beat fast. He couldn't help but get a bad feeling about this whole thing. But he wanted to see his friends. Golden Freddy led him to a door, and once he opened it, Ian was greeted with the sight of Hope and the twins._

"_Ian!" Hope smiled at him. "There you are!" Ian's eyes fell on the HUGE cake on the table. He had to admit, it did look tasty. But before he could think of what to do, he heard a 'click' as Golden Freddy locked the door behind them. Ian's heart started beating even harder in fear. None of the others seemed to notice, however. Tricia just beamed up at Goldie._

"_Well, now that Ian's here, can we have some of this cake? I want a nice, big slice!" _

"_You just ate three slices of pizza!" Her brother shot back at her. "You're gonna get fat, you know!" Tricia glared at him, but Golden Freddy just laughed. _

"_Of course, kids! It's your birthday, eat all you like! After all, it's just us now! It's just you, and…" As the children watched, Golden Freddy reached up and removed his head. _

**He wasn't an animatronic. **

_The children's smiles faded as the person in the suit gave them a malicious smirk and pulled out a knife. _

"_**It's me.**__"_

_Unseen to the outside world and unheard by anyone else, the children's screams echoed off the walls._

**A/N**_: _Well, that's a dark way to start the story, I know. But hey, we all know how the story goes, and this had to start SOMEWHERE. Now, let me set the record straight about how a couple things will go in this story-a) for those of you who have read 'Rewritten Pastas', this is set in a different universe, so things are going to be similar, but different b) The very first child (the one in the marionette) and the fifth one are going to be merged into one for the sake of the story c) the animatronics themselves aren't alive in this, it's all the souls of the dead kids controlling them d) A couple other things and characters are going to be different from canon too but hey, it's called fan FICTION for a reason, so don't come to me with 'but that's not how it happened in the game!' This is my version of the story, and no one's forcing you to read it, so if you don't like, gtfo. For everyone else though, enjoy! And leave me nice reviews!

PS. I looked it up, and yes, it is possible for Hispanic people to have naturally red hair, though it's usually light, looking almost brown.


	2. I Blow Up Some Aliens

**Disclaimer**: _I don't own Five Nights at Freddy's. I do, however, own my own versions of the characters._

You know that old saying 'be careful what you wish for'? Seems like that should be obvious, right? But some people have to learn that advice the hard way. And as much as it shames me to admit it, I was one of those people. All I wanted was some more excitement in my life. Something to get my heart racing, make me feel _alive_. When I got it, that should've been it. I should've just left. But, being the idiot I was, I stuck around. And now I'm in far too deep to just leave.

Sorry, I'm getting ahead of myself. Maybe I should start by introducing myself. Name's Mike Schmidt. I'm five foot nine and ninety pounds. No, you didn't read that wrong. I…don't have much of an appetite a lot of the time. I also don't go out much, so I'm really pale. Despite being only nineteen, my hair is completely gray. It's also messy, and grows a little past my chin. I have dull (some would say _dead_) green eyes, with dark shadows under them.

Needless to say, I'm not popular with girls. Or anyone, for that matter. Not that I care. Nineteen years old and already a complete burnout. Though to be honest I've been this way for a while, ever since…going too far again. I'm bad at this.

Let me just go back to the beginning-winter 1996. The day I got kicked out of college.

* * *

"…proud of yourself?! Well, Mike?! _Are you proud?!_" My dad glared at me, his face red. "You just barely pass your first year of college, now you go and get yourself expelled halfway through your second year?!"

"Technically, I wasn't expelled." I deadpanned. "They let me go for 'failure to live up to academic expectations'." I swear I saw a vein pop in my dad's head. He opened his mouth to shout at me some more, but my mom put her hand on his shoulder.

"Victor, enough." She turned to me. She didn't look angry, but her eyes were full of disappointment. It was obvious she was trying to keep calm.

"Mike, maybe we were too hasty in sending you to college right away. After all, you didn't have an easy time in high school; I'm beginning to think maybe it would've been better if you had taken a year off before…"

"A year off?!" My dad rounded on her. "Holly, don't encourage him! Mike's problem is that he's lazy! He wouldn't have had such a hard time if he just put in the effort!"

"Well, if you didn't shout so much!"

And like that, my parents were in a shouting match. Knowing them, it would take at least twenty minutes before they remembered that they were mad at me instead of each other. I excused myself, heading upstairs to my room. I needed something to take my mind off of everything, and nothing did the trick like my favorite game, Space Invaders.

Let me set the record straight right now-I am _not _lazy. Remember the dark circles I mentioned under my eyes I mentioned? That's from lack of sleep. I _can't _sleep a lot of the time, so I try to study, like a good overworked student. 'Try' being the key word. A lot of the time I can't focus on the words I'm reading. Needless to say, because of that, my grades weren't the best. And now, after failing test after test, here I am.

I sat down at my desk, pulling out my game station and starting up the game. I stared unblinkingly at the screen as I shot the alien ships, pretending that every one of them was my mom's or dad's head. Just then, the door opened.

"Mike? Hey, Mike!"

"Did the parentals send you in?" I asked croakily, not looking up from my game.

"Nope, they're still arguing." My sister Francine, or Fritz, as most people knew her, walked into my room.

"Brought you dinner." I just ignored her. I was too busy distracting myself from the real world to care about food. Fritz sighed. "It's Chinese food!"

"Spare ribs?" I asked

"Um-hmm."

And lo mein?"

"Yep."

"Chicken?"

"You betcha."

"Gimmee."

I paused my game and stood up, grabbing the take-out box and a pair of chopsticks from her. Fritz put her hands on her hips as I started to eat.

Despite us being brother and sister, Fritz and I look almost nothing alike. For starters, her skin is peach-colored, since she actually has a social life and goes out, instead of staying inside all the time. She has a nice, slender frame, but like healthy, not a stick like yours truly, and long, wavy black hair. The only feature we really share is that we both have green eyes, and even those are different from mine, being much more full of life and usually burning with anger, due to her hot temper. Even though she's pretty good-looking otherwise, Fritz has unusually thick eyebrows for a girl, which she's really sensitive about. So naturally, I go out of my way to point them out whenever she gets on my nerves.

"So, what are you going to do now?" Fritz asked as I slurped some noodles. "Gonna try to look for another college?"

"Probably not." I answered nonchalantly. "I did the college thing; I think it's obvious it's not for me. At least, not right now."

"What, then?" Fritz demanded. "You're not going to just sit around and play games for the rest of your life, are you?"

"Of course not." I said, lifting a big piece of chicken to my mouth. "Mom and Dad would toss me out on the street." I gathered more noodles, put them in my mouth, chewed, and swallowed.

"I think it's fairly obvious what I have to do. I'm gonna look for a job."

"Like what?" Fritz asked. She then let out a snort. "You gonna babysit again, like when you were sixteen?"

"Don't be ridiculous." I deadpanned. "If I'm gonna get by, I'm gonna need more than ten bucks an hour." Fritz sighed.

"And the award for 'failure to understand sarcasm' goes to…"

"Do me a favor." I interrupted her. "Get me a newspaper."

She glared at me like I'd just called her an insulting name.

"I'm not a dog!"

"I never said that you were." I said matter-of-factly. "I just asked you to get me a newspaper. Please." Fritz rolled her eyes and walked out the door. As soon as she was gone, I leaned back in my chair, staring up at the ceiling.

What kind of job would I get? I wouldn't help my dad out in his landscaping business, that was for sure. He'd just yell at me when I invariably did something wrong, like always. Working at my mom's bookstore wouldn't be much better. She'd act like she wasn't disappointed if I put one book out of place, but her tone of voice made it obvious that she was questioning how she could have such an idiot for a son.

_I just hope they don't ship me off to the military or something._ I was just imagining myself with a shaved head and fatigues when Fritz came back in, holding the newspaper.

"Here." She said. "Don't say I never do you any favors." I mumbled thanks to her and took the newspaper in one hand, still holding my take-out box in the other hand. I then flipped to the 'Help Wanted' section.

"Telemarketing?" I questioned. "Yes, that's what I want, to call complete strangers only for them to hang up two seconds in. Retail? Doesn't appeal to me." Suddenly, my eyes fell on an ad.

"Freddy Fazbear's Pizza? Boy, does that bring back memories." I looked over at Fritz, who now had an uncomfortable look on her face.

"Yeah, not all of them good."

"Says they're looking for a night guard." I put my now half-empty box of Chinese food on the desk, taking the newspaper in both hands. "Twelve to six. Doesn't pay much…but it sounds interesting."

"Interesting?" Fritz snorted. "Sitting around for six hours watching a bunch of creepy-ass animatronics?" She shuddered. "Can't believe we ever liked those things. I swear, they look like they'd murder someone."

"Depending on who you ask, they already have."

Fritz raised an eyebrow.

"Come again?"

"You haven't heard the stories?" I turned around to look at her. "I've heard rumors. People say that Freddy and his friends come alive at night and walk around the pizzeria. Their circuits are all wonky, so if they see a human, they kill 'em. Stuff them into a Freddy suit full of sharp, pointy bits."

"Killer robots, huh?" Fritz asked. "Well, that would explain why…" An awkward silence passed between us for what seemed like an eternity. Fritz was the first one to break it.

"You're gonna apply right away, aren't you?"

"You do know me well." I polished off what was left of my dinner and grabbed a nearby pen.

"Well hey, we've only been living together for seventeen years now."

"MIKE! GET DOWN HERE _NOW_!"" Fritz bit her bottom lip nervously.

"Guess Mom and Dad finally noticed that you left." I internally swore. For my own sake, I knew I should get down there ASAP. Dad would tear me a new one if I didn't. Sighing, I put the newspaper aside, making a mental note to write out my resume as soon as I got back.

Even if the rumors turned out to be true and I ended up getting mangled by the animatronics, it would be a hell of a lot better than this.

**A/N**: _And so we're introduced to Mike! I hope you guys like him-I sure had fun writing him XD Most of the chapters are gonna be written from his POV, though I do plan on shiftlng to the other characters every now and then. And yes, not only is Fritz a girl in this, but his sister. Like I said, characters are gonna be different in this story. I just noticed that I mistakenly said that my CP fanfic was 'Poor Little Souls' instead of 'Rewritten Pastas' in the prologue. Fail -_- _

_Oh, fun fact-there's a reason I had Mike eating Chinese food in this-as pointed out in one article, whenever a character is eating Chinese food in a movie or TV show, it's a good indicator that shit's about to go down. Well, enough of that. Be kind and review, please!_


	3. I Begin Work at Satan's Chuck E Cheese

**A/N**: _Well, here's Mike's first night on the job! Will he survive the other four? Read on and find out!_

_Disclaimer_: _If I owned Five Nights at Freddy's, there'd be no need for me to write a fan FICTION now, would there?_

"You sure about this, hon?" My mom looked at me as we drove, her face filled with confusion and concern.

"Positive." I answered dryly.

It had been almost a week since I was kicked out of college. Once my dad was finished threatening to disown me, I told him and mom about my plans. No point in beating around the bush. They both went quiet. For the first time ever, my mom was the first one to break the ice. She advised me against it, offered to let me work with her instead, reminded me of the little _incident_ that happened there all those years ago, but I was adamant. After all, it was something to do, and it's not like I ever sleep anyway.

"But sweetie, you don't want to screw up your sleeping habits even more, do you?" My mom had asked. "Staying up from midnight til six won't do anything for those bags under your eyes."

"I'll sleep during the day." I said simply. "Pretend I'm an owl from now on."

"But," My dad started, "After all these years, after…"

"Think of it like therapy." I interrupted. "If I go back to the place where it happened and see that they really are just harmless robots, it'll help ease my childhood trauma."

It was at that moment that I thanked every god I knew for my expert lying skills. I wanted the opposite to happen-to see them come alive with my own eyes. Literally. Not healthy I know, but then again, no one ever accused me of being the sanest guy around.

Finally, my mom and dad caved…kind of. They agreed to give me a few days to think about it, decide if that was what I really wanted. The days came and went, and I started (trying to) sleep during the day, to prepare myself for my new job. My mind was made up, so now here we were.

"Y'know, I remember my first job." My mom chuckled uneasily, obviously trying to lighten the mood. "I was a waitress in a diner, y'know, one of those old-timey ones where we zip around on roller skates. I'd go there after class, get into my cute little outfit…"

"Was this before or after you rented a time machine to the fifties?" I asked. My mom sighed, her smile disappearing.

"Look, Mike, could you try and be a little less blunt? This is a real, bona fide job, I don't think Mr. Fazbirch will appreciate your, um, _humor_ as much as the kids you used to babysit."

"I like kids." I pointed out. "They're not judgmental like adults." My mom started to open her mouth, maybe to ask why I didn't take the day shift instead in that case, but changed her mind, shaking her head in defeat. I didn't argue with her further. What was the point, anyway? I'd be watching a bunch of cameras all night.

Finally, the Freddy Fazbear's logo came into sight, and Mom parked.

"Well, here we are." She said. "I'd go in with you, but I'm really tired." As if to emphasize her point, she let out a huge yawn. "I never was much of a night owl. Clearly that's not something you inherited."

"I can handle this." I assured her. "Your little boy's not so little anymore." I turned around and started to walk off.

"Mike?" I turned my head a little to look at my mom. Her green eyes, so similar to Fritz's, were brimming with sadness.

"Be careful, okay?"

"Alright." I promised. She drove back off and I resumed walking. I looked at the posters of the Fazbear band and Foxy the pirate, and felt memories washing back over me.

"Crazy to think that it's been nine years." I said out loud, to no one in particular. I pushed open the double doors and walked inside, passing the stage and Pirate's Cove, until I finally reached the manager's office.

"Hello?" I asked, knocking on the door. "Mister Fazbirch? It's Mike Schmidt."

"Come in." A voice on the other side of the door answered. I obliged, and was greeted with the sight of a large man in a button-up shirt and vest. He smiled as soon as he saw me.

"Ah, Mike! Take a seat!" I sat down, surveying him unflinchingly. "Now Mike, I've looked over your application, and I'd be happy to have you on board. Before I give you your first pay check though, I'm gonna have to put you through kind of a 'trial period'."

"Trial period?" I asked, curious.

"Five nights." Mr. Fazbirch continued. "To see if…to see if you can handle it. Doing this every single night, I mean."

I knew he was lying. He was looking everywhere but at me. Mr. Fazbirch was hiding something, and I had a feeling it had something to do with the stories I'd heard.

"Five nights at Freddy's?" I asked. I then shrugged. "Okay. I'll give it a shot."

"Excellent!" Mr. Fazbirch gave me a smile, and I noticed that his teeth were a bit more pointed than you'd expect from a normal human.

_Is he really Freddy in disguise?_ I thought. I pushed that thought away and filled out the contract Mr. Fazbirch gave me.

"We've got uniforms in the supplies closet." Mr. Fazbirch informed me, standing up. "What size jacket do you wear?"

"Small." I answered. I noticed him looking at my midsection before turning back to the closet. It might've been my imagination, but I heard him mumble something about me needing to eat more. He emerged, holding a light blue jacket and hat, which he handed to me, still smiling.

"Enjoy your first night, Mr. Schmidt. And um…do keep an eye on the cameras, okay?"

Second time that night an adult warned me to be careful, albeit not directly. I gave him a nod, and then left the office, pulling on my uniform as I walked towards the security office. As I walked through the door, I looked around at my surroundings. Not much to look at-a bunch of screens, a fan, a phone, a poster of Freddy, Bonnie, and Chica, and some kids' drawings of the characters.

I looked down at my watch. Twelve o'clock on the dot.

"Right…here we go."

Immediately after I said this, the phone rang. I leaned over and pressed the speaker button so that I could check out the screens while listening to the call.

"Hello? Hello?" A man's voice started.

"Um…hi?" I answered, wondering who would be calling the office, and why so late.

"Uh," the guy continued, "I wanted to record a message for you to help you get settled in on your first night."

Oh. It was a recording. I leaned back in my chair to listen to the rest of it.

"Um, I actually worked in that office before you. I'm finishing up my last week now, as a matter of fact, so…I know it can be a bit overwhelming, but I'm here to tell you there's nothing to worry about, uh…you'll do fine! So let's just focus on getting you through your first week, okay?"

_They sure know how to make newcomers feel welcome here, don't they? _I thought as I looked through the screens. The hallway was clear, which I suppose meant that Mr. Fazbirch had already left. Next I checked on Freddy and his gang. They were all still standing in the same place. Next was Pirate's Cove. All I saw there were the purple curtains.

"Uh…let's see. First there's an introductory greeting from the company that I'm supposed to read. Eh, it's kind of a legal thing, you know. 'Welcome to Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, a magical place for kids and grown-ups alike, where fantasy and fun come to life."

The guy sounded almost as dull as I would have had I been in his shoes, and I couldn't help but wonder if Mr. Fazbirch paid him extra to say that.

"Fazbear Entertainment is not responsible for damage to property or person." The man continued. "Upon the discovery that damage or death have occurred, a missing persons' report will be filed within ninety days, or as soon as property and premise have been thoroughly cleaned and bleached, and the carpets have been replaced. Blah blah blah."

I stared. Just what was going on here?

"Now, that might sound bad, I know-but there's really nothing to worry about!" Phone guy assured me. "Uh, the animatronic characters here do get a bit quirky at night, but do I blame them? No! If I were forced to sing those same stupid songs for twenty years and I never got a bath I'd be a bit irritable at night too."

"Funny you should mention that." I commented as I checked back on Freddy and his friends and saw Bonnie looking _right at the camera_.

"So remember: these characters hold a special place in the hearts of children, and you need to show them a little respect. Right? Ok."

"Alright then." I said snarkily, to distract myself from the nervousness that was already spreading all over my body. "Freddy, I _respectfully_ ask that you and your pals not brutally murder me."

"So just be aware-the characters do tend to wander a bit. Uh-they're left with some kind of 'free-roaming mode' at night. Uh-something about their servos locking up if they get turned off for too long. Uh, they used to be allowed to walk around during the day too, but then there was the 'Bite of 87'."

My blood ran cold.

"Yeah, it's amazing that the human body can live without the frontal lobe, ya know?"

My eyes narrowed as I looked at the phone.

"Yeah…amazing." I forced myself not to have flashbacks as I resumed listening.

"Now, concerning your safety: the only real risk to you as a night watchman here, if any, is the fact that these characters…uh…if they happen to see you after hours won't recognize you as a person. They'll-they'll most likely see you as a metal endoskeleton without its costume on. Now, since that's against the rules here at Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, they'll probably try to stuff you inside a Freddy Fazbear suit."

My heart started beating faster.

"Um, now that wouldn't be so bad if the suits themselves weren't filled with crossbeams, wires, and animatronic devices-especially around the facial area…so you can imagine how having your head forcefully pressed inside one of those could lead to discomfort…and death."

I leaned forward even more in my seat, my hands gripping the handles of my chair. On the screen, I noticed that Bonnie had left the stage. A quick scan of the cameras showed me that she was now in the dining area.

_Coming to get me._

"Uh, the only parts of you that would likely see the light of day again would be your eyeballs and teeth, when they pop out the front of the mask." Phone guy let out a nervous laugh. "Yeah, they don't tell you these things when you sign up."

My hands began to shake.

"But hey, first day should be a breeze; I'll chat with you tomorrow. Uh, check those cameras, and remember to close the doors only if absolutely necessary. Gotta conserve power. Alright. Goodnight."

I stared at the phone for a couple more seconds, then slowly, slowly, looked back at the cameras to check on the animatronics. Freddy and Bonnie were still on the stage, but Bonnie wasn't in the dining area anymore.

So where was she?

I got my answer as I looked at another camera. She was in the hall, getting closer to me.

My eyes widened, my breath came out shakily...and I grinned like an idiot.

Alright, so at this point you're probably thinking that I'm crazy, or suicidal. But I'm not-not exactly. It's just that being in danger, or just a scary situation in general, gets me _excited_. I can't help myself. My heart beating like a drum, the adrenaline rushing through my body-those are the only times I truly feel _alive_.

And now that I knew that the stories were true and these animatronics really did kill people, I got the feeling that I'd be feeling like that a LOT tonight. If I managed to survive til morning, that is.

**A/N**: _Now things are getting exciting! Next chapter is where things deviate a little from the game. Review, please!_


	4. A Pirate Helps Me

**Disclaimer**: _I'm a broke college girl. Therefore, I'm not Scott Cawthon, and as such, don't own Five Nights at Freddy's._

_A/N:_ _As promised, things will be a little different in this chapter. Flames will NOT be tolerated, however. This is fanfiction, people._

Every part of me was on high alert as I watched the cameras, watching Bonnie getting closer to me. My mind was racing, blood was rushing through my body, and I felt like a million tiny needles were piercing my skin. In other words, I was scared out of my mind.

And it felt _great_.

I grinned like an idiot as I checked on Bonnie again. My mind was racing with questions. How long had this been going on? How many night guards had died before me? Did Mr. Fazbirch know? And if he did, why was he covering it up?

_Because of the money._ An annoying little voice in my head answered. _That's the way the real world works, Mikey-boy. People lie, cheat, steal, cover up all the time, just so they can keep getting money. _

I checked the cameras a third time. I couldn't see Bonnie. Where had she gone? My heart stopped as a horrible thought came to my mind. I hit the lights…_and there she was_.

_Watching me in the door_.

Never in my life had I moved faster than when I shot up and hit the switch, closing the door. I turned around, my back to the door, the sight of that damn giant purple bunny still in my mind.

An iconic figure from my childhood, a character who used to give me joy, had suddenly become a figure of dread. My grin spread wider, and before I could stop myself, crazy laughter burst from my throat. With no one around but me and the robots, I didn't try to keep it all in. I laughed and laughed until tears were pouring down my face.

"I can't remember the last time I felt so alive!" I announced to no one as I put my hands to my face, no doubt looking like some kind of maniac. I chuckled a couple more times before turning back around to check if Bonnie was still there. I couldn't keep the doors closed forever, after all. Had to watch the power. Bonnie was gone, so I opened the door. I walked back over to my seat and checked my tablet. 93 percent.

_You can do this, Mike._ I thought. _You can make it through the night. _I leaned back in my chair, thinking. Phone Guy had said that the animatronics thought that night guards were endoskeletons; maybe I could wear a costume to protect myself?

_But then Fritz might think I'm a furry or something. Or worse, Mom and Dad might find it. I can just see my dad now…cameras, Mike. Check the cameras or you won't live long enough to worry about your second night._

I checked the cameras. Bonnie was back on stage with Freddy and Chica, who still hadn't moved. How did she get there so fast? Next I checked out Pirates' Cove. This time, however, I saw Foxy looking out at me.

"There you are." I said quietly. "You gonna come after me too, Cap'n? Hey, what time is it?" I checked the clock. One o'clock. Sheesh, only one hour had passed and I was about to have two near-death experiences. God, this was exciting.

I flipped through the cameras and saw that Foxy had moved. He was outside of Pirates' Cove now, and I noticed that his head was tilted at a weird angle.

Before I could do anything else, I heard something. Whispers?

"Hello?" I asked, against my better judgment. I looked around a couple times. Nobody there.

_Of course there's nobody here Mike, it's one o'clock in the morning. Great, now you're hearing things._

After a while, the sounds stopped. I looked back at the cameras…and my heart stopped. _**Foxy was running down the hall.**_

Insane chuckling burst from my mouth, laced with nervousness. He was running! Actually running to get me! Bonnie had just kinda stood still when I saw her, but I actually saw Foxy moving. And unless I was faster, I was actually going to freaking die. I ran over and closed the right door-just in time, it seems. No sooner had the metal door slid down than I heard banging. He was banging on the door, trying to get in, I realized. I stopped laughing, though a huge, anxious grin was still on my face.

What was he doing? Bonnie hadn't been this desperate to get in-was each animatronic more aggressive than the last? Suddenly, the banging stopped. The silence didn't last long, however.

"Hey! You alright in there?" Finally, my smile disappeared, and I stared at the door, eyes wide.

_That was a little boy's voice._

"Mister?"

"Um…" I started, before I could stop myself. What was going on?

"I'll help you tonight. But when six o'clock comes, you _have_ to get out of here! Leave Freddy's, go look for another job somewhere else. Okay?"

My head started spinning. Was that still Foxy out there? Was he trying to trick me into letting him in by imitating a kid's voice, maybe pretending that he was a little boy who had somehow gotten into the pizzeria?

The smart thing to do would be to wait. Leave the door closed until he saw that I wasn't fooled, and left on his own. After all, I had plenty of reason not to trust him.

On the other hand, if he WAS changing his voice somehow, it was really well done. It wasn't tinny and far away like the pirate voice I remembered from my childhood. It genuinely sounded like there was a young boy outside the door. My hand slowly drifted towards the button, and before I could stop myself, I opened the door, fully expecting him to pop in and kill me.

But to my surprise, he was gone.

"Huh?" I blinked in surprise, looking around. Then I saw him leaning against the wall. Foxy turned his head to look at me, and my breath caught in my throat. I stumbled back into the office, my heart beating even harder than before. My breathing was shallow. I clutched my chest. When I could finally breathe normally again, I looked back outside. Foxy seemed to survey me curiously, then he turned to look at the wall.

_He…he's really not going to kill me?_ It seemed like ages before I could bring myself to move. My feet like they were made of lead as I trudged back into my office and sank into my chair. I looked back down at my tablet. Down to 86%. I checked the cameras again.

Chica was gone now. And Freddy _still_ hadn't moved. Though he was now looking right at the camera, along with Bonnie.

"New guy! I see Chica! She's heading your way!"

"Huh?" I asked for the second time. Way to sound smart, Mike.

"She's coming!" Foxy answered from outside, still speaking in the 'little boy' voice, which sounded panicked. "She's right outside! Get the door!" Somehow, I managed to get the right door, hitting the lights to see the chicken's silhouette on the wall. As well as Foxy's. I narrowed my eyes at him.

_Why isn't he trying to kill me like the others? Why is he talking like a little kid? Why is he helping me? Just what the hell is going on here?!_

"She's gone now." The small voice announced. "It's okay now." I shakily nodded my head, even though I knew he couldn't see me, and went to open the door, once again bracing myself for an attack. But once again, the fox pirate just stood there, barely seeming to notice me.

"I…I don't understand." I said shakily. "Why are you…why don't you…?" I could just barely see his jaws moving in the darkness as he answered

"It's a long story. Too long to explain. Let's just say…we're not like what you're thinking."

The rest of the night seemed like a haze after that. Yes, I had a couple more close calls, but my mind was still spinning. And once the clock showed that somehow, I had made alive it to six AM, they started buzzing in my head like bees as I pulled myself up to leave. I checked the hall. Foxy was gone.

On my very first night at Freddy's, I had been given nothing but a tablet with little battery, been almost killed, and had millions of questions. But I knew one thing for sure…I'd be coming back tomorrow.

I was going to get some answers, no matter what.

**A/N**: _Looks like Mike has some help. Now what will happen? Will he learn the truth of what happened at Freddy Fazbear's? Stick around to find out! *Sigh* I really need a better tagline..._


	5. My Sister, the Flamingo

**Disclaimer**: _If I owned anything, I'd have enough money to pay off my student loans. *Laughs, then cries*_

_Ten-year-old Mike grumbled to himself as he walked back into the main dining hall, a large cup of Dr. Pepper in his hands. It was _his_ birthday and yet Fritz was making him get a drink for _her_. Oh well, he figured. At least he could see the Pirate's Cove show. Hopefully he hadn't missed too much._

"_Alright, I got your dumb drink!" He said. "Now will you…" He let out a gasp as he looked up. He could barely even hear all the horrified screams and gasps over the blood pounding in his ears. The cup fell from his hands, the soda and ice spilling around his feet. But he barely noticed. His eyes were wide with horror, yet he couldn't run, couldn't scream, couldn't do anything but look at the terrifying scene in front of him. Finally, he found his voice again_

"_Fritz?!"_

* * *

My eyes snapped open. I didn't even realize I'd been sleeping. Frankly, with the night I'd had, I didn't think I'd be able to sleep at all. I looked at the clock next to my bed. Two o'clock. I looked from the clock to my ceiling, thinking about yesterday, my first night on the job. No wait, technically it was this morning. I guess I should've just been grateful that I made it out alive, but looking back on it, it just seemed so surreal. The animatronics had come to get me…except for one. It was a good thing I was lying down, because I didn't think I had the strength to stand up with the many, many thoughts and memories filling my head.

Foxy had helped me? He warned me about the others? But why, after he…

A sharp knocking on the door pulled me back into the real world.

"Mike! You up yet? It's been eight hours!" It was Fritz. I pulled myself up a little, mumbling that I was awake.

"Why are you here?" I asked as I started to pull myself out of bed. "Don't you have school?"

"Not on Saturday, dumbass!" Oh, right. Yesterday had been Friday.

"Look, I have a date, okay?" Fritz continued. "There's tuna salad in the fridge. Also, Mom wanted me to tell you that she won't be able to drive you to work tonight. The bookstore will be open til eleven tonight for some youth thing or other, and she doesn't have enough time to come back here and take you to your job."

"So how am I supposed to get there, then?" I asked, shuffling towards the door. "Ride my bike the whole way?"

"I guess." Fritz said. "Or you could ask Dad to take you."

"It's been a while since I took my bike anywhere." I responded. "Plus, I could use the fresh air." I opened the door-and immediately had to squint.

Fritz was wearing a sleeveless, bright pink dress and matching pink lipstick and blush. Her hair was brushed back into a ponytail. She'd even gotten her eyebrows waxed. Though with her genetics, I knew they'd be back to their old bushy selves in no time. She looked me up and down, her pretty pink lips pulling back as she gave me a weird look.

"You look like shit." Typical Fritz.

"I was up from midnight til seven." I reminded her. "How about you? You look like a flamingo. Your new boyfriend a birdwatcher or something?" She answered by punching me in the arm.

"Shut up." I walked past her, starting to make my way down to the kitchen. "So…how was it?"

"Boring." I lied. I knew that if I said that if I gave even the slightest hint that it was interesting, Fritz would start bugging me for details, and wouldn't let up until I'd told her everything. She raised an eyebrow.

"So…nothing?" She asked, sounding a little disappointed.

"I just watched a bunch of cameras all night. Didn't leave my office once." That technically wasn't a lie. That was all she was getting, though. There was no way I was about to tell Fritz that I'd almost been killed at least twice, and that Foxy had helped me, speaking in a little boy's voice. Though the more I thought about it, the less real that part seemed.

It was late. I could've been hearing things. Hell, was ANY of it even real? None of the animatronics had touched me; maybe I imagined that they were moving? But as much as I tried to brush it all off as a trick my mind had played on me, one thing from that night still stuck with me.

"_We're not like what you're thinking."_

What did that mean? What was going on? I thought back to the Phone Guy's message as I spread tuna on two pieces of bread. If the animatronics saw a night guard, they'd think that they were an endoskeleton and stuff them into a Freddy Fazbear suit. Somehow, I got the feeling that there was more to their actions than some problem with their circuits.

"Hey! Zombie boy!" I suddenly realized that Fritz had been talking to me, and turned slightly to face her.

"Eh?"

"I asked if you're really going to go back tonight?"

"It's my job." I deadpanned. Fritz started to reply, but the sound of a horn honking suddenly sounded from outside.

"That's him." She said. Without another word to me, she turned around and headed out the door, off to her date.

Every now and then I wonder what it's like to have a social life. Eh, whatever. I finished making my sandwich, and poured potato chips onto my plate.

* * *

The rest of the afternoon passed rather uneventfully after that. I washed the dishes, watched some TV, and thought even more about the previous night. I decided that it wasn't a dream. I was up late a lot, and I'd never had hallucinations, visual or auditory, before. The only thing that still didn't register with me was Foxy.

My situation didn't get much better when my dad showed up. Like Fritz, he started badgering me with questions. Unlike Fritz, though, I couldn't be sarcastic or anything or he'd yell at me for being a smartass. So I just answered and nodded where I could.

"You're sure you don't want to take up the family business? Y'know, landscaping can be pretty fun sometimes."

_Sure. And afterwards I'll get a root canal and go skinny-dipping in a swimming pool full of cockroaches._

"I'm sure, Dad." I said flatly.

"Well then, how about I drive you tonight?"

I knew it was coming, but I still felt my stomach disappear.

"It's cool." I assured him, trying to stay calm. "I'll take my bike out."

"This late?" He raised an eyebrow.

"I'll be fine." I said. "Nothing ever happens here."

_Which is why I have to go to the airport and watch planes take off just for some variety in my life._

Dad crossed his arms, surveying me. Finally, he seemed to make up his mind.

"Well, I guess you're old enough to take care of yourself. Can't baby you forever, after all." And he walked off, without another word to me. Honestly, I didn't expect anything different.

* * *

"Mike!" Mr. Fazbirch greeted me warmly, his lips pulled back to reveal his freakishly sharp teeth. It was almost ten hours later. Crazy how fast time flies when you're waiting to get back to a job that could very well kill you.

"So, how did you like your first night?"

_I almost died. You stuck me in here with a bunch of killer robots, and now you're acting all friendly?!_

"It was dull. Hopefully tonight will be a bit more exciting." If one good thing came from having an angry, shouting, rageaholic dad, it was that I'd learned to keep my thoughts to myself, and keep from saying things that might get me into trouble. Nonetheless, I saw Mr. Fazbirch's smile fade a little.

"Nothing happened? Nothing at all? Well, that's good." I stopped pulling my jacket on halfway and stared at him.

"Mr. Fazbirch…"

"Well, gotta go!" Mr. Fazbirch said, too quickly. "Got to get well-rested for tomorrow!" He beamed at me, though I could see the nervousness in his eyes. "See ya, Mike!" He did everything but shove me out of his office, and I pulled my hat over my eyes as I walked to my office.

"Right then, night two on the job." I said. "Just three more nights, then I get my paycheck."

Just then, the phone rang, like it had the previous night. I pressed the speaker button, and Phone Guy's voice greeted me once again.

"Er, hello? Hello? Well, if you're hearing this and you made it to Day 2, uh, congrats! I-I won't talk quite as long this time since Freddy and his friends tend to become more active as the week progresses. Um…it might be a good idea to peek at those cameras while I talk, just to make sure everyone is in their proper place, y'know?"

"That _is_ a good idea." I agreed, and started flipping through the cameras. Chica was already gone, and another glance showed me that she was in the dining area, looking right at the camera. I couldn't help but grimace a little as I saw her toothy beak.

_Fritz is right. These robots are creepy as hell._

"Uh, interestingly enough, Freddy himself doesn't come off stage very often." Phone Guy continued.

"I noticed."

"I heard he becomes a lot more active in the dark though, so hey, that's one more reason not to run out of power, right? I also want to emphasize the importance of using your door lights: uh, there are blind spots in your camera views, and those blind spots happen to be right outside your doors, so if you can't find something, or someone, on your cameras, be sure to check the door lights. Uh, you might only have a few seconds to react…not that you would be in any danger, of course. I'm not implying that!"

"Yesterday you warned me that they'd stuff me inside a Fazbear suit, and that my eyes and teeth would be the only things left of me." I pointed out. "You can't just give out a warning like that, then brush it off." I knew it was pointless to argue with a voice recording, but whatever. I had to do SOMETHING to distract myself.

"Also, check on the character in Pirate's Cove from time to time." My eyes automatically flashed to the cameras. Foxy was already out, as if he'd heard him. "The character in there seems unique, in that he becomes more active if the cameras remain off for long periods of time. I guess he doesn't like being watched. I don't know."

"That makes two of us." I said dryly.

"Anyway, I'm sure you have everything under control. Uh, talk to you soon!" The message ended, and I looked at the cameras again. Chica was getting closer. She had nothing on Foxy, though, who was running straight to the office, like the previous night. Damn he was fast. My first thought was to close the door, lock him out like before. But then a thought came to me. Foxy had hung around outside the office all of last night, and hadn't tried to kill me once, even though I left the doors wide open. He'd even warned me about Chica, and told me to get out of Freddy Fazbear's.

_Maybe I can talk to him? Try and get some answers._

No sooner had the thought crossed my mind than Foxy poked his head right through the door, his eyepatch flipping up as he did. I tried not to be nervous, but my usual scared grin crossed my face, and for a few seconds we just stared at each other.

"I…I know you're not going to hurt me." I wasn't sure if I was really talking to him, or trying to assure myself. "Last night I left the doors open almost the whole time, and you didn't try to get me. You're different from the others somehow, you're…"

"Why did you come back?!" Once again, he sounded like a little boy, and a distressed one at that. "I told you it was dangerous here! You could've died, why did you come back here?!" My grin faded, my eyes wide.

"So last night _wasn't_ a dream." I swear, Foxy looked genuinely upset as he said

"I'll help you again tonight, but once this is over, you _have_ to leave! I don't want to see another night watchman die!"

"Another?" He started to go out, but I wasn't done.

"Hold up. I'm not going _anywhere_ until I get some answers. Why are you helping me? How many people have died? Why does your voice sound like that? Just what is going on here?" Foxy let out a sigh.

"Like I said last night, it's a long story. Besides, it's probably better that you don't know." I narrowed my eyes. I _hate_ not knowing things. And I hate it even more when people, or in this case animatronics, keep things from me.

Before I could stop myself, I jumped out of my seat and crossed the room, forcefully grabbing his arm.

"I. Want. Answers. Now." He turned to stare at me, and it suddenly dawned on me how stupid that had been. He was a seven-foot animatronic fox with sharp teeth, and claws, _and_ a hook, and I was a scrawny nineteen-year-old kid who'd snap like a twig even you even LOOKED at him wrong. Fortunately though, Foxy didn't seem to be in an aggressive mood.

"Fine." He agreed, a twinge of annoyance in his voice. "But first, get the right door. Chica's right behind you." I whipped around and saw that he was right. Quick as a flash, I let go of him and hit the switch, locking the chicken out. Foxy stepped into the office, watching to see when she would leave. In the meantime, I checked the cameras. Bonnie was looking at me now, but she hadn't moved yet. And, of course, neither had Freddy.

_Does he EVER move?_

"She's gone." I looked back over at the door and hit the switch, seeing that Foxy was right. Chica was nowhere to be seen.

"Thanks for the assist." I said. I turned in my swivel seat, looking up at Foxy seriously.

_Geez, he's tall._

"Okay, now talk. Tell me everything, Foxy."

"First of all, I'm not Foxy. Even if my soul _is_ stuck in here." I blinked up at him.

"Wha…"

"My name is Ian Connors." The little voice answered. "And years ago…I was killed here at Freddy Fazbear's."

**A/N**: _Well, that's one mystery revealed. What will Mike do when he finds everything out? BTW, I probably should've mentioned this sooner-I got the idea for the funny chapter titles from the Percy Jackson and Kane Chronicles books. I thought it would be a fun idea XD As well as all the title drop for the original game. _

**A/N** **2**: _For those of you who have been following my creepypasta fanfic 'Rewritten Pastas', good news-I'm gonna start updating it again, starting next week, and work on it and this back-to-back. I can't promise frequent updates immediately though, what with preparing for finals. Oh, and for that one person who asked, yes, Jeremy is going to be in this story, in fact I have an important part in mind for him. He's not gonna show up for a little while though, so be patient, okay? Now then...how about you nice people do me a favor and leave some nice reviews? Please?_


	6. What the Fox Says

**A/N**: _Hey guys, back again! So, before I get into this, I have a couple people I'd like to thank for their wonderful reviews:_

_Rollerwings: I'm glad you like my writing, and my version of Mike. I'm having a lot of fun writing him XD Yep, he and Ian are going to be a very...interesting duo._

_MMiladinova: Yeah...looking back on it, I'm kinda mad at myself for adding in the FNAF subplot in Rewritten Pastas now, since I decided to write this. Originally I was just gonna write that part in RP and leave it at that, but soon I found myself coming up with my own version of Mike, then a plot started to form, and before long...this story happened. FNAF has officially taken over my soul. But yeah, as you can see, things are gonna be a bit different here._

_XXPay4XtraShippingsXX: You really think this feels real? Well, thanks! Yeah, like I said to Rollerwings, I love writing my Mike. Same with Ian-I have so many plans for those two..._

_Ariel-Mystic-Siren: Yay, new reviewer! Well, don't worry, I'm having fun writing this, and I don't plan to stop anytime soon, especially with summer coming around, and giving me more free time to work on this!_

_Whoa, first time I've done that. I meant every word though, guys. Thanks for all your kind words, and I hope I continue to please you :)_

**Disclaimer**: _I do not own Five Nights at Freddy's, it belongs to the wonderful mind that is Scott Cawthon. All hail the Cawthon._

"So…you were murdered?" I asked. "You and your friends?" Foxy, or rather Ian, nodded his head grimly. It was fifteen or twenty minutes later. At first, I'd had my doubts, but after hearing his story, I was beginning to question myself.

"The next thing I knew, I was inside Foxy. And I was angry. _Very_ angry. I…I couldn't control it. I could only think of one thing-revenge. Not just against the man who killed us, but against night guards in general, since he was one."

"So then, why aren't you trying to kill me?" I asked. Ian looked off to the side, probably ashamed of what he was going to say next.

"It…it was because of the Bite of '87."

Once again, my heart stopped beating for a second.

"After that, I came back to my senses. _She _couldn't control me anymore."

"'She'?" I asked.

"Me and my friends weren't the only ones that man killed." Ian explained. "A couple years before us, there was a little girl, Melody. His first victim. After she died, she was able to stay here by transferring her soul inside a puppet that they used to have here.

"She was furious about being murdered. And the longer she stayed here, the more corrupted her soul became with anger and rage. She wanted revenge against her murderer…but she couldn't do it alone. And when me and my friends were killed, she had her chance.

"Melody used the puppet to put our souls inside the animatronic characters like she'd done to herself…and her rage spread to us. We no longer had control of ourselves."

"So she brainwashed you guys to kill just for her own revenge?" I asked.

"She wanted revenge for _all_ of us." Ian said. "At least, that's what she said. I think in her own way Melody does want to help us-she's just too full of anger and hatred."

"And…and when you did it-the bite…"

"I didn't want to!" Up until this point, Ian had been sitting cross-legged on the floor, and he suddenly shot up, nearly causing me to fall out of my seat. "She made me do it, really!"

All of a sudden, it was very easy for me to believe that there was a little boy inside the big scary animatronic.

"Easy there!" I held out my hands in a defensive gesture. "I'm not accusing you of anything!" Despite myself, a grin slowly started to creep over my face again. Ian probably noticed this, and he slowly sank down to the ground again.

"Sorry. Anyway, after I came back to normal, I tried to get out of Foxy. But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't leave. I'm stuck in here." He looked at his hook hand sadly.

"But you don't want to kill night guards anymore?" I asked.

"I never _wanted_ to." Ian insisted. "Like I said, Melody, is influencing us to kill. It was like being in a nightmare-being sent out to kill people again and again. Even behind all the anger, there was still a part of me that tried to stop, to scream at the night guards to run, but…" He clutched his head in his good hand, and I suddenly felt very sorry for the poor kid.

"It's okay." I said before I could stop myself. "You're better now. You started trying to help night guards after that, didn't you? Like you helped me last night?" Ian nodded.

"I don't even remember how many people ended up dead because of me. I hoped that if I started helping night guards instead, it would somehow make up for it. And even if it doesn't…I don't want to see anyone else die."

I got the feeling that if he could cry, he would. Couldn't say I blamed him. That little boy had been through way too much stuff-and he was only nine. I started to open my mouth to give him even more words of encouragement, but at that moment, I saw Bonnie in the door.

_Hell. _I had been so busy listening to Ian that I forgot to check the cameras. I shot out of my seat and scrambled to the door, closing it as a semi-psychotic smirk crossed my face. Ian cocked his head at me curiously.

"Sorry, but why do you do that?"

"Lock out people who want to kill me?" I asked.

"No-you smile whenever you're scared. I noticed that. And last night, I heard you laughing when you shut me out."

"Force of habit." I explained. "I'll tell you later. For now, let's hear a little more of _your_ story." I checked the lights. Bonnie was gone now, so I opened the door and checked my power. 77%. And it was two o'clock. I looked back at Ian.

"That girl-Melody, is she still around?"

"Yeah." Ian answered. "She's not in the puppet anymore, though. Mr. Fazbirch tossed it away, and Melody had to leave it behind. She's still here, though, keeping an eye on all of us." I squeezed my chin thoughtfully.

"Then those whispers I heard last night-that was her?"

"Could be." Ian shrugged. "Even though she can't actually hurt anyone anymore, she still tries to scare people, make them paranoid."

I leaned back in my seat, letting everything sink in. Foxy was possessed by the soul of a dead kid- and so were the others. Ian was the only one who didn't try to kill me. And there was another dead child who had corrupted them, forcing them to kill people against their will. The whole thing left me feeling lightheaded. I faintly noticed out of the corner of my eye that Chica was on her way again.

"If…" I started, "If I leave in a couple hours, and never come back-what will happen to you?"

"The same thing that happens to me every time a night guard leaves." Ian answered somberly. "Melody will get angry, maybe scream at me. But it won't be so bad, knowing that at least you were able to get out alive."

"Yes;" I began, "But you'll be left all alone again. Stuck here with those _things _that used to be your friends." He didn't say anything, and instead just hugged his knees.

* * *

The rest of the night was quiet after that. Ian went back outside, and warned me when Bonnie or Chica were getting close. No. Not Bonnie and Chica. What had Ian said the girls' names were…Tricia and Hope? They were like him-the souls of children who had died a horrible death and were now forced to possess the animatronics their bodies had been hidden inside, doing the same to every new night guard who came to work here. And Travis, stuck inside Freddy, who kept watching me from the stage, but never moved. After hearing Ian's story, I just COULDN'T think of them as animatronics anymore. And I couldn't help but think that they were fighting Melody's hold on them somehow, since they waited in the doorway watching me, instead of just popping in and killing me. I imagined their souls stuck inside the robots, probably crying as they were made to do these horrible things, horrified at what they had become.

Emotion slowly started to spread throughout my heart the more I thought about it…and it wasn't fear.

Finally, six o'clock came by. I heard Ian start to walk down the hall, heading back to Pirate's Cove, no doubt. I pulled myself out of my chair and headed to the door, sticking my head out.

"Ian." He stopped in his tracks, turning his head a little to look at me. "I'm Mike." I started. "Mike Schmidt. Get used to hearing that name…because I'm not going to follow your advice. I'm going to keep working here."

"WHAT?!" He whipped around quick as a flash. "But this place is dangerous! You saw that for yourself…I told you what's going on here…!"

"Exactly." I said. "And now that I know, I'm not going to just leave you here." I looked at him seriously. "I'll save you. Every last one of you."

"Mike…" His voice sounded even smaller than usual as he looked at me with those glowing yellow eyes. "You can't."

"I can at least try." I replied, not letting up. And I meant it. It sounded impossible, but I was determined. I'd had my fun, now I actually had a purpose. A reason to keep coming back to Freddy Fazbear's.

_I'll save them. Even if it kills me. Literally._

**A/N**_: Be careful what you say, Mike...those words might just come back to bite you in the butt. BTW, this IS actually my personal headcanon about FNAF and the dead children. Feel free to disagree if you want, but don't be mean. I won't tolerate flames. So...will Mike be able to keep his promise? And what will happen if and when he meets Melody? Stick around to find out!_


	7. Bears are Bad News

**Disclaimer**: _Saying that I owned Five Nights at Freddy's would imply that I had money. *Laughs, then cries*_

"Mommy, can I get this? Please?" It was 5 PM. I was at the local Blockbuster, looking around for a video or two to rent for some point in the not-too-distant future. Something in the horror genre, of course. I had been trying to decide between _The Texas Chainsaw Massacre _and _Poltergeist_ when the little girl's voice made me look up. A thirty-something woman with sandy hair raised an eyebrow as she looked at the video her daughter held up to her.

"Isn't that a bit scary for you, hon?" She asked. "Wouldn't you like something like _The Little Mermaid_ or _Sleeping Beauty _instead?"

"I don't like princess movies." The little girl frowned. "I want to see _Jurassic Park_!" The woman just laughed, putting the video back.

"It's a phase, Chloe. You'll grow out of it." My stomach twisted itself into knots. There are very few things that can get me truly pissed off, and one of them is when people brush kids off or don't take them seriously just because they're kids. _Especially_ when those people are their own parents. Though I noticed the little girl grab back the _Jurassic Park_ movie and stuff it under her shirt when her mother had her back turned. I probably should've said something or at least been shocked that she was stealing, but all that came to mind was for me to nod in approval.

_Shine on, little girl._

"Finding everything okay, sir?" I turned to see a tall gothic girl with long black hair that was shaved on one side, black lipstick, and an ankh necklace smiling down at me. Once she got a good look at me, however, her grin slowly faded.

"Mike?"

"Have…we met?" I asked.

"I'm Summer." The girl asked. "Summer Ling? We used to go to college together, remember?" I looked at her more closely, and suddenly remembered seeing her around sometimes.

"Oh yeah." I nodded. "Didn't think you worked here."

"Well y'know, gotta put aside some money if I'm gonna get by." She laughed a little nervously and looked at me, asking

"How about you, Mike? What're you up to these days?"

"Got a job myself." I answered, looking back through the movies. "I'm working as a night guard." I don't know why I answered so readily. I barely knew the girl, she was just another face in the sea of people I used to go to class with every day but kept my distance from when class was out.

"Well, that's nice." I couldn't help but notice she stepped a little closer to me. She started to open her mouth to say something else, but her boss called her up to help another customer at the cash register, and she walked off, but not before giving me one final smile. I stared after her.

_She couldn't possibly like me…could she?_ I looked at my reflection in a nearby mirror. Just as pale, messy-haired, scrawny, and baggy-eyed as ever. Not to mention I was wearing my favorite baggy jeans and black t-shirt with the words 'This is my happy face' on it. I scoffed at myself.

_Get real, you freak._

* * *

In the end, I went with _Chainsaw Massacre_. Once I left the store, my next stop was a bookstore. I wanted to find something on spirits, see if I could find, I dunno, SOMETHING to help Ian and the other dead children. I was no spiritualist or anything, but I couldn't just sit around twiddling my thumbs doing nothing now that I knew for a fact that the souls of dead children were trapped in the Fazbear's animatronics. After getting home, I holed myself up in my room and looked over the book I had found. There was some interesting stuff in there-stuff about summoning, binding a soul to yourself…didn't want that, so I skipped over that one. I did find _one _passage about removing a ghost from a possessed object; but that ended with destroying the ghost once it was removed, so that was obviously out of the question. I kept skimming the pages, but before long I conked out. My sleep was full of pleasant dreams of dead children reaching out to me, mouthing 'help me' over and over again. I reached out to try to grab one of their hands when one of the children, a little girl whose face I couldn't see clearly, lunged at me with a shriek.

For the second time in a row, I woke up in a flash.

_That does it. No more Tang before I go to sleep._

* * *

After my mom dropped me off at work, I went immediately to Mr. Fazbirch's office to grab my uniform. He was actually on the verge of leaving as I came in; though he left the office open long enough for me to get my stuff.

"Y'know Mike, you really should get your own car." He remarked as he saw my mom driving off. "I'm sure your mother doesn't like having to drive you so late."

_That would require money. Not all of us are lucky enough to run big-dollar businesses you fat piece of…_

"Yeah, maybe one day." Truth be told, I wasn't really mad at Mr. Fazbirch. I knew he had a point. I was just cranky from my dream earlier. And from being reminded how broke I was.

I headed straight to my office and sat down, preparing myself for the usual phone message. Right on cue, the phone started ringing.

"Hello, hello!"

_Is he going to start every one of his messages that way?_

"Hey, you're doing great! Most people don't last this long!"

"I had help." I looked up at the camera, noticing that Ian was already on his way out of Pirate's Cove.

"I mean, y'know, they usually move on to other things by now…I'm not implying that they died. Tha-tha-that's not what I meant."

"Bull."

"Uh, anyway, I-I'd better not take up too much of your time, uh, things start getting real tonight."

_Jittery guy. Come to think of it, I wonder how he found time to record these messages while looking out for the possessed animatronics. Maybe Ian helped him too? Nah, he warned me to keep an eye out for him last night._

I broke out of my thoughts to listen to the rest of the message.

"Uh, h-hey listen, I had an idea: if you happen to get caught and want to avoid getting stuffed into a Freddy suit, uhh try playing dead. Ya know, go limp. There's a chance that they'll think you're an empty costume instead. Then again, if they think you're an empty costume, they might try to stuff a metal skeleton into you. I wonder how that would work…"

"Spoiler alert-it wouldn't. I _might_ be skinny enough to survive being stuffed into a Freddy suit, but if they tried to put an endoskeleton into me I'd be in trouble." Though I couldn't help but picture them trying to put a metal skeleton in me through my mouth and getting confused when it didn't go all the way in.

"…yeah never mind, scratch that, it's best just to not get caught. Umm, well okay, I-I'll leave you to it. See you on the flip side."

"Well, that was helpful." I said sarcastically, crossing my arms as I checked the cameras. My heart stopped as I checked the stage.

_**Every one of the animatronics was gone.**_

Damn, Phone Guy wasn't kidding. I flipped through the cameras. Tricia…sorry, _Bonnie_ was in the East Hall. Chica was in Dining Hall. And Freddy was in the West Hall, staring right at the camera.

_Be careful, Mike._ I thought. _You may be trying to help those kids, but you have to stay alive if you're going to do that. Which means that, except for Ian, you can't think of them as kids right now. There might be a chance that you can help them get their minds back, but until then…_

My thoughts were suddenly interrupted as the lights started flickering. My scared grin grew even wider as I checked my tablet. I still had 95% power-the power shouldn't be anywhere NEAR close to…

**IT'S ME.**

I turned my head slowly.

"Huh? Wha…" I suddenly grabbed my head as I heard whispers, like the first night. A bunch of jumbled, confused messages, one after the other. The light flickered once again…and I almost fell out of my seat.

_Freddy was right in front of me._

Or, at least, it _looked _like Freddy. It was colored gold and sitting on the floor, its arms splayed out at an odd angle, its head slumped to the side. Its eyes were completely black, with just tiny white pinpricks. I remember seeing this thing before a couple times before in my childhood…Golden Freddy. Never before though had it looked so _evil_.

"M-Melody?" I asked through terrified giggles. "Is…is that you?"

The light flickered a couple more times, and suddenly Golden Freddy was gone. Something grabbed me, and I nearly jumped out of my skin.

"It's alright, it's alright!" Ian's now-familiar voice assured me. "It's just me!" I whipped around to see his good hand on my shoulder, and slowly calmed down.

"Sorry if I scared you." Ian apologized, looking remorseful.

"It-it's okay." I said. "It's just…when did you get here?"

"Just a few seconds ago."

"You saw that just now then? Golden Freddy?"

"Yeah." Ian answered. "That's why I ran in here. Well, that and to warn you that all of them are coming for you."

"I noticed." I indicated to the cameras. Suddenly, my eyes fell to the door, and I saw Bonnie standing right behind Ian.

"Behind you!" We both shouted at the same time. I turned around at the same time as Ian, and saw a shadow walking up the hall towards me-a _bear-shaped_ shadow. I got the feeling that it wasn't Golden Freddy this time. Ian was faster than me. He shut Bonnie out while I shot up so fast that I nearly fell over. Somehow, I was able to make it to the door before Freddy, and likewise locked him out. However, I quickly caught a glance of Freddy's eyes. They were pitch-black, like his golden counterpart's. I stumbled backwards, bumping into Ian. He caught me before I could fall on my butt, and I started laughing again like I had on my first night there, though not quite as crazily. Ian stared down at me, raising an eyebrow.

"Are…you okay?"

"Yeah." I got out through laughs. "They still there?" Ian stood me upright, taking care not to hurt me with his hook, and went over to check on the left door.

"Bonnie is." He announced. I walked shakily over to the right door, and opened it. BIG MISTAKE. Freddy hadn't gone. The second the door opened, he lunged at me, letting out an ungodly screech.

"MIKE!" Ian ran to Freddy before he could grab me, slashing at him with his hook. He didn't get him, but the good news was that the bear's attention was drawn from me. He started grappling with Ian, who, despite being much thinner than him in Foxy, proved to be strong.

"The door, Mike!" He shouted frantically at me as he managed to shove Freddy out. "_Get the door!_" I hit the switch, locking the bear out again. I breathed heavily as I watched the door. This time, I wasn't grinning or laughing as I turned to look at Ian.

"You alright?"

"Of course I am, I'm dead, remember?" He reminded me. "They can't hurt me." About ten seconds passed, and I slowly, hesitantly, headed to the door, reluctant to open it again in case Freddy jumped me again. I reached out with a shaking hand, and hit the switch. Fortunately, Freddy had gone this time. I let out a sigh of relief as Ian went and opened the left door.

"So…why do you laugh and smile when you get scared?" Ian asked once I had settled back down into my seat. "You said you'd tell me last night, and never did."

"Right." I started as I checked the cameras again. "Guess it's only fair that I tell you." I flipped through the cameras one last time, seeing that Freddy and Bonnie were back on stage, but Chica was closer. Whatever. I could check on her and open up to Ian at the same time.

"It all started the day I was almost hit by a car…"

**A/N**: _Well, that's it for now. Getting late here, so I'm gonna wrap this up for now. The next chapter will be from Ian's POV instead of Mike's. Also-really guys? Only two reviews for the last chapter? Come on, I work hard on these chapters, y'know! So-since my birthday's tomorrow-could I get some more reviews? Really nice ones? Pretty please? Also, one more thing-are there any other FNAF stories out there like mine that you guys know of-like where the kids aren't bad, or all that bad? I'm curious to read some._


	8. Talking to a Puppet

**A/N**: _Thanks for all the suggestions, guys. I read 'Upon Daybreak' and 'Soul', both of which are really good :) I especially liked Soul-kudos to you, Elhini Prime. I look forward to reading the rest of your series. Also, thanks for all the birthday wishes. Now then, I have another request for you guys-two actually, but I'll get to those at the end of the chapter. For now, enjoy this chapter. And, like I said, this one is from Ian's POV, for a change of perspective. Also, we get to meet another character in this one!_

**Disclaimer**: _Scott Cawthon owns all things Five Nights at Freddy's, and I am but a lowly insignificant worm that is a fan._

I'll admit it…I've always been afraid of people when I meet them for the first time. Whenever my mom took me and my brother and sister out somewhere, my first reaction when someone, especially a grown-up would say 'Oh, what a cute little boy!' or even just a simple 'Hi!' would be to hide behind my mom. Heck, when I started school I shied away from everyone for the first couple of weeks until Hope invited me to play with her, Travis, and Tricia.

You'd think that it'd get easier when you're dead, but I've learned better. For instance, when I saw Mike for the first time, I thought he looked really creepy. Okay yes, I'm a ghost in a seven-foot-tall animatronic fox but he looked like a zombie. I mean, there's this really skinny, really pale guy with dark circles under dead-looking, half-closed eyes. I wanted to protect him from the others, but I couldn't help but shudder when he came out the first night to check on me.

When he came back the second night though, and I told him my story, I began to see him differently. Yes, he looked creepy, but other than that he just seemed…normal. He even felt sorry for me and wanted to help me and the others. I knew it was impossible, but the fact that he was nice enough to at least stick around and try, at the risk of his own life, made me hopeful. After he left, I thought that maybe, just maybe, if I could keep him alive and safe from Melody and the others, I could have a new friend. Yes it's selfish to want him to keep coming back here when I've tried to get every other night guard in the past to leave and never return…but I'm lonely. I've been stuck in here for years, with my still-brainwashed friends, who can't, or won't, even talk to me anymore. I've tried to stop them, tried to talk to them, but they're…just not there anymore.

But as it comes to find out, I was actually right about Mike the first time. _I've been protecting a crazy person._

"My life took a big downward spiral when I was ten." Mike explained. "Something bad happened, and my dad started yelling at me, screaming that I was worthless and would never amount to anything. He'd yell at me almost every day, sometimes over something stupid, or even nothing at all, and every now and then when he got angry enough, he hit me. Then somewhere along the line, I just…broke. Everything looked bleak. I stopped feeling happy…stopped feeling everything, really."

"I'm sorry to hear that!" I tried to reach out to put my good hand on his shoulder again, but stopped myself. I had a pretty good idea what that 'bad thing' he mentioned was.

"I pretty much drifted through every day for the next couple of years after that, feeling empty. Then one day when I was fourteen, I was walking home from school." Mike paused to check the cameras as he talked to me. "I was thinking about something or other, and wasn't paying attention to where I was going. I started to cross the street, and suddenly heard the sound of tires screeching." I gasped in horror.

"And…and what happened then?"

"I was able to get out of the way in time." Mike assured me. "I didn't get hurt. Got real close to it, though." He turned to look at me, the light from the cameras casting a creepy glow on his already-creepy face. "I just…the next thing I knew, I was flat on my butt in the middle of the street. A couple of people were around, asking me if I was alright, stuff like that, but I could barely hear them. My heart was pounding like a drum, the blood rushing through my ears. I breathed heavily for a few moments, then, before I could stop myself…I started laughing. I laughed and laughed until tears were pouring down my cheeks. I must've looked really crazy to those other people, but I didn't care. That experience, almost getting hurt, maybe worse-that was the most alive I'd felt in four years."

"Then?" I asked, slightly worried to hear the answer.

"Nothing." Mike answered simply, turning back to look at the cameras. "I pulled myself up, got my stuff, and got back home without any incident. But that one, brief moment…that moment where I could actually _feel_ again…" I looked down at the ground, suddenly feeling very guilty.

"_I _did this to you." He turned back around to look at me. "I remember when you came here for your birthday all those years ago-you and your sister. You were different back then. You looked so happy when you were a kid-but then I…I…"

"Hey," Mike cut me off, "My dad's always been a violent, abusive bully. And I was NEVER his favorite. He would've found some excuse to turn me into a punching bag sooner or later."

"But if your dad was so horrible to you, why didn't you leave?" I asked. "Or why didn't your mom stop him, or something?"

"Cause my mom's a gutless coward." Mike said in that usual flat voice of his. "And it runs in the family, apparently. You're the first person I've ever told."

"Really?" If I was still alive, I would've blinked in surprise.

"Yep." Mike answered. "Mom's seen my dad yelling at me a couple times, but she's always told me that he's 'doing it for my own good'." He snorted. "Yeah, constantly telling me what a weak, stupid, pathetic waste of DNA I am is 'for my own good'." I saw Chica outside and was about to tell Mike, but he saw her. He got up and closed the door, locking her out.

"When did I get to this point in my life?" He asked, and I got the feeling that he was talking more to himself than to me. "Such a broken, pathetic wreck that I have to open up to a dead nine-year-old in a fox suit while simultaneously trying to keep from getting killed. Um, no offense." He added this last part quickly, but honestly, I wasn't offended. I felt very sorry for Mike. If what he said was true…if his dad had really been so horrible to him that it left him like this…that was _wrong_. Parents were supposed to protect their children! Okay yes, I barely remembered my own dad, but still!

I suddenly noticed that Mike was waving his hand in front of my face.

"Hello? Anybody home?"

"Huh?" I came back to reality. "Oh, sorry."

"Forget it." Mike said, looking back out the window to see if Chica was still there. "I should really focus on staying alive, what with all the others out to get me. Forget I said anything."

"No." He blinked at me. "Mike-I'm sorry." I started. "Even if you don't blame me, I'm sorry that your life's been so hard. I'm sorry that your dad was so mean to you. And I'm…I'm just sorry for everything, okay?!" It wasn't much, but I didn't know what else to say. Mike opened the door. Once he was sure Chica was gone, he turned slightly to look at me.

"Thanks Ian. It's just nice to know _someone_ cares." He checked the clock, and his eyes widened a little in surprise. "Five o'clock already? Wow, time flies when you're having one harrowing experience after another."

"Bonnie!" I shouted, pointing at the door. Mike started to go to shut her out, but I was closer, so for the second time that night, I locked her out. "Too bad they don't get any slower as it gets closer to six." I said. Mike just stared at me.

"The others did that to you, didn't you?"

"Huh?" I asked.

"Those scratches." Mike said, pointing to my chest. "Melody made them attack you, because you tried to help other night guards like me."

"Yeah." I nodded. "The first night after well, y'know…I tried to leave Foxy, like I told you. And once that failed, I saw my friends heading out like usual to get the night guard. But this time I didn't join them. I had free will again. I thought that maybe if I tried to talk to them I could get them back to normal too. So I ran and tried to stop them, tried reminding them of who they were. I think I actually got through to them for a second. But then Melody showed up, shouting that I was a traitor. She was so angry that it caused the others to go after me. The good news was that I was able to get away before I ended up like Mangle."

"Mangle?" Mike asked.

"Remember when they tried to redesign Freddy Fazbear's in the 80s?" I asked. "They made more cutesy versions of the original animatronics; including a version of Foxy that I think was supposed to be a girl or something?"

"Oh yeah." Mike glanced off to the side. "They had her in 'Kids' Cove'. Kinda a step down, if you ask me."

"Lots of the other kids thought so too." I said. "They damaged her to the point that she was reduced to nothing but a head and spine. After that, the staff just started calling her 'the Mangle'."

"Ouch."

"Anyway," I continued, opening the door once I saw that Bonnie was gone, "I went back to Pirate's Cove with nothing but these scratches. But when I looked through one of them carefully…I saw my own dead body. And I screamed." Mike looked at me, and I saw the pity in his eyes.

"Kid…" Before he could say anything, however, the clock showed that it was six, and his shift was over.

"Well, this has been an interesting night." Mike started. "See you tomorrow, Ian."

"Hey, Mike?" I called as he started to leave.

"Yeah?" He asked.

"That stuff you said about your dad-I don't think you're pathetic or anything." He turned his head a little, but not to the point that I could see his eyes. "I just think you're crazy. For coming back here again and again."

"Well, I did promise to save you munchkins." Mike said, like he was talking about the weather. "But until I actually find a way to do that-I can at least make sure that the others don't hurt you again. Oh, and in case you were wondering, Fritz is fine. She still gets headaches sometimes, but other than that, she's alright." And with that, he left.

Yeah, the guy was definitely crazy. Risking his life for me and my friends when they kept trying to kill him, being worried about me getting hurt when I can't even feel pain anymore…but at the same time, it was nice to have somebody who cared about me. I'd been alone for so long-and now this guy was the only friend I had. I was walking back to Pirate's Cove and wondering whether there actually WAS a way for me and the others to be saved, when a voice said

"You sure are chummy with that new guy." I gasped and turned around, seeing the figure of a little girl floating above me. _Melody_. Being a ghost, she was completely silver, except for her eyes, which were black, and had gray tear marks under them, and her cheeks, which had a slightly reddish blush, like the Puppet she used to possess.

"M-Melody!" I didn't mean to sound so scared and got mad at myself as Melody glared down at me.

"You don't really believe him, do you Ian?" She asked. "All that stuff he said?"

"How much of that did you hear?" I asked, trying to keep my voice from shaking.

"Enough." Melody crossed her arms in front of her chest. "How do you know he wasn't lying to get you to feel sorry for him?"

"W-why do you care if he was?" I asked, trying to be brave. "Mike's a little weird, but he's a good guy. He's not like the man who killed us, Melody!" She flew right into my face, looking furious.

"He's a grown-up! All grown-ups are liars! He doesn't care about you, about any of us!"

"St-stop it!" I protested.

"Once he gets enough money, he'll just quit and leave you here to rot!"

That pushed me over the edge. Letting out an angry cry, I slashed at Melody with my hook. Of course, it just went right through her, but at the moment I didn't care.

"LEAVE ME ALONE!" I shouted defiantly.

"Fine." Melody said. "But you're making a mistake. I meant what I said." She turned around. "_All_ grown-ups are liars." And with that, she disappeared.

_She's wrong. _I thought. _Mike's going to help us. I have to believe that. _And with that, I continued off down the hall, to get back to my place in Pirate's Cove before the restaurant opened.

**A/N**: _And thus, we are formally introduced to Melody! Vengeful little thing-though one can hardly blame her. And that's right-Fritz was the Bite of '87 victim. BTW-no offense to anyone who actually likes Mangle, I like her fine myself. Those were Mike's words, not mine. Now then, a couple things-_

_a) As you may have noticed, I FINALLY figured out how to change the chapter titles for chapter one! :D I'm feeling pretty proud of myself for that. I changed the first chapter title, as well as for a couple of my past stories, now I feel like less of a noob ^^'_

_b) For those of you who have Tumblr accounts, I actually made an ask/rp blog for Mike and Ian. If you want to check it out, the link is right here: __ blog/ask-the-night-guard-and-fox-boy_

_c) Are there any really talented artists on here? If anyone is feeling generous, I'd like someone to design a new cover image for this story. Not like a commission or anything, since I'm pretty much broke...though I WOULD give you full credit. Well, that's everything. Hope you liked this chapter, and, as always, review!_


	9. I Meet GI Bart

**WARNING**: _This chapter is rated T+ for Fritz's mouth._

**Disclaimer**: _Nothing belongs to me. Well, okay so THESE versions of the characters belong to me, but still. _

Now, I'm sure at least some of you are familiar with the rumor that it's easier to study when it's a subject you like. For example, you could look over the same algebra problems fifty times and half a minute later still not be able to tell x-intercepts from algorithms or whatever, but if you're into English Literature you can memorize the first few passages of 'A Tale of Two Cities' after just barely glancing at the page.

Well, allow me to put those stories to rest-it's all a load of bologna. I wanted more than anything to find a way to get the dead kids' souls out of the animatronics, yet no matter how much I flipped through the pages of the spirit books I'd bought, none of it made any sense. But then again, NOTHING about my situation made any sense. Still though, I couldn't help but frown as I skimmed through the book for the hundredth thousandth time.

"There's gotta be _something_ in here. Why can't I find it in any of these books? What's wrong with me?"

"For starters, you're talking in a library." I looked over my book, expecting to see a very angry librarian. Instead, I saw a man who looked like he'd just come back from fighting in some war or another. He was in about his late thirties or early forties, was a few inches taller than me, and obviously worked out. He had short cropped blond hair, peach skin, and blue eyes that, although they looked a bit fierce, still had some semblance of friendliness and light to them.

He looked kind of like a grown-up version of Bart Simpson…if he joined the Navy. The man looked at the title of the book I was reading.

"_Exorcism and Spiritual Cleansing for Dummies_?" He looked at me with a raised eyebrow. "What happened, kid? Try to summon a demon for shits and giggles and now it won't leave your dorm or something?"

"Yes," I answered sarcastically. "He just lounges around all day and doesn't do laundry. It's a pain in the a-"

"SHHHH!" The librarian hissed in my ear rather harshly. The guy motioned for me to follow him outside, and I left the book behind as I walked behind him. It wasn't giving me anything useful anyway.

"So," the guy asked once we were outside, "What's a kid like you doing looking at occult stuff like that? There are better ways to freak out your parents, y'know."

"Why do you care?" I asked. The question came out sounding ruder than I expected, and the guy frowned at me.

"Just curious. Rude piece of shit. You teenagers act like you're all that, but you're really just overgrown brats trying to prove all big and tough. Kids! That's the reason I stopped working at Freddy's." I started to tell him to get off his high freaking horse when it was _my_ generation that was paying for _his_ one's retirement, but stopped myself.

"Freddy's? As in…Freddy Fazbear's?"

"Yeah. What's it to you?" Wasn't that just like an adult? Accusing you of doing something, then doing it themselves. Hypocrites.

"Nothing. It's just…I work there now."

"Huh." Small world. "So then, that book you were looking at just now…"

"You were a night guard too?" I asked, the wheels in my head starting to turn. "Who…?"

Suddenly, a taxi pulled up next to us.

"That's my ride." The man said. He pulled a card out from the pocket of his jeans and handed it to me. "Name's Jeremy Fitzgerald. Call me sometime, and we'll…discuss things."

He gave me a half-smile before disappearing into the cab.

What was that about? He was writing me off as a rude kid before I mentioned working at Freddy's as the night guard, AND he hinted knowing about the dead kids. Or, at the very least, he had some clue about…something.

_Could he really know about Ian and the others?_

I looked at the card with his number on it. Whoever this 'Jeremy Fitzgerald' was, I got the feeling we'd meet again. I pocketed his card and went back inside to continue looking at books.

* * *

A couple hours later, my worst fear came true. After the library, I had gotten the idea to stop by a costume store to buy a bear suit, to protect myself from the animatronics. Yes, I knew very well that they were possessed by the dead kids and that whole 'facial recognition' thing was a load of bunk, but maybe if the kids thought I was just another suit…well, it couldn't hurt. I was in my room pulling the suit on, when the door swung open.

"Hey Mike, have you seen my…?" Fritz's eyes fell on me, and she froze mid-sentence.

"I can assure you, there's a good reason for this…that I can't explain to you right now." I told her. Another long silence. "I swear, I'm not a furry." Fritz's eyes shifted to the side, and she slowly walked away, closing the door beside her. I sighed. I'd have to confront her at some point before I left for work. I wasn't sure if I'd last the night, even with Ian's help. Freddy/Travis had almost gotten me last night, and if I didn't make it out of this thing alive…well, I wanted to make sure Fritz's last memories of me were good ones. Yes we had our moments of bickering, but she was my sister. Also, she was nowhere NEAR as bad as our parents, if only because she actually stuck up for me once in a blue moon. I sighed heavily.

_Y'know, being stuffed into a suit might not be so bad. Maybe if I end up haunting an animatronic like Ian and the others, I could learn more about how to help them, maybe convince Melody to let them go._

_**Only **__**I **__**would find a bright side to dying. Mike Schmidt, you're even more messed up in the head than your sister.**_

I pulled off the suit and walked down the hall, catching up with Fritz as she was about to go back into her own room.

"Hey, Fritz?" She paused as she was about to open the door, but didn't say anything. I took that as a sign to continue. "Um uh, I just wanted to tell you something. I um…" I gulped, then continued.

"I'm the reason Mr. Cheepers flew away." Whatever Fritz was expecting, it obviously wasn't that. She slowly, slowly turned around to stare at me, and I noticed that her eyebrows were already beginning to grow back.

"Yeah, I was trying to change his newspaper, so I opened his cage. He flew right out, and I'd also stupidly left the living room door open, so…"

"Mike, you're acting even weirder than usual." Fritz crossed her arms. But she didn't look angry, just confused. "First I walk in on you in a bear suit, and now you're apologizing to me about my parrot from when I was eleven. Not to mention all those weird books I found in your room about spirits and exorcisms and stuff."

"…what were you doing in my room? Looking at my stuff?" I tried to keep my voice as calm as possible, but my heart was pounding almost as hard as it had when I heard that ominous message on my very first night at Freddy's.

"_I'll_ ask the questions here!" Now Fritz was beginning to sound like her old self, though there was still a note of concern in her voice. "Mike, just what is going on at your job?! Why have you been looking even paler than usual?! Why do you mutter in your sleep about 'saving them'?!"

I'd been talking in my sleep? Damn it. Damn it all to hell.

"What aren't you telling me?!" At this last question, Fritz got right up in my face. I forced myself to stay calm, though.

"Fritz," I started, "I'll admit it-over the few nights I've been working as a Fazbear's night guard, there's been a LOT going on. Too much to recount-and you probably wouldn't believe me even if I told you anyway."

"Mike,"

"And honestly, I don't know what will happen tonight. But I'm afraid I can't tell you what's going on. The less you know about what my job entails, the better."

"Mike-you're freaking me out."

I sounded like Ian back during the first night, I realized. He had been vague, given me his help, but refused to explain about himself and the other kids until I demanded him to on my second night. Now I was doing the same thing to my own sister. It was for her own good. Even on the slim chance that she believed me, I didn't want her doing something stupid and reckless, like applying for the night shift herself when I mysteriously disappeared without a trace.

"I-I'm sorry." I told Fritz quickly. "About all the times I've bugged you about anything. And I'm sorry I can't tell you more. Just…do me a favor, okay?"

"I'M NOT DOING YOU ANY FUCKING FAVORS!" Fritz punched the wall. "NOT UNTIL YOU STOP BEING SO DAMN CRYPTIC AND TELL ME WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON!"

From across the hall, Mom asked if we were okay, but I ignored her, looking at Fritz seriously.

"On the chance I don't come back after tonight…kick Dad's ass for me. If he asks why, tell him that it's for all the hell he rained on me over the years, all the times he made me feel like nothing." I turned my head and said, more to myself than to her. "Maybe in my next life I won't be such a disappointment."

"Mike…" My sister's voice was shaking. "What the fuck…" I couldn't stand to look at her. I walked back to my room for a nap, hoping against all hope that those wouldn't be the last words I said to her.

**A/N**: _Yeah...this chapter was really short and random compared to the others. Sorry about that, guys ^^' Just think of it as the calm before the storm. And hey, you got to meet Jeremy! He'll play an important part in the story later, just grin and bear it. Next chapter things get really intense, so brace yourselves. And as always, review!_

_BTW-you may have noticed that I have a new cover image, courtesy of XXPay4XtraShippingsXX Thanks, Pay4Xtra!_


	10. I See (and Hear) Dead People

**Disclaimer**: _I'm a girl. I'm biracial. I'm single. Therefore, I'm NOT Scott Cawthon, and as such don't own the Five Nights at Freddy's games._

**A/N**: _Here we learn something about Ian-and one of the other kids comes back to normal...well, for a little while, anyway._

Confession time-I had a Goth phase back when I was fifteen. I wore nothing but black, wore more make-up than Fritz, and tried dyeing my hair…only to screw it up and end up looking like a skunk. It didn't last long (mostly because of my dad threatening to beat me black and blue), but the Goth lifestyle fit me like a glove. I was antisocial, quiet, and looked down on everyone. Idiots, every one of them. Shallow, airheaded idiots obsessing over stupid things like going to the mall or making out with each other every two seconds.

Four years later, not much has changed. I'm still quiet and antisocial, but I don't look down on other people anymore. _I envy them._

That night as I got ready for what might very well be my last night alive, I looked at Fritz's bedroom door as I passed it in the hall. I still felt bad over making her so upset earlier, but it was better that she didn't know. I could only hope that if I didn't come back, she'd learn to better control her temper. I knew she had trouble with her anger due to missing 20% of her brain, but I wanted her to have a happy, normal life.

"Ready to go, Mike?" My mom asked. She looked really tired, as if she'd been up for 24 straight hours. I could tell that having to drive me to work so late was taking its toll on her, and I couldn't help but feel guilty. Nonetheless, I tried to keep my tone neutral as I answered

"Yeah." I vowed to get my own car if I made it out of this thing alive.

* * *

I got two surprises as I went inside Freddy Fazbear's. First of all, Mr. Fazbirch had already left. I pulled on my blue jacket and hat, then went to the night guard's office, where I got my second surprise. Ian was already outside the door…and he was asleep. Now, seeing an animatronic fox lying slumped against the wall, its head tilted to one side and its eyes closed would've been a bizarre enough sight-but that wasn't even the weirdest part. Above Foxy's form, the ghost of a little boy was doing the same. He had a mop-top type hairstyle, a t-shirt that looked about two sizes too big for him, and a pair of shorts. The ghost boy was completely silver-his skin, clothes, hair, everything except for two gray tear-like markings under his eyes. Ian tilted his head a little, and the apparition did the same. It suddenly dawned on me that it was his _soul_.

"Ian?" Both animatronic and ghost opened their eyes, and I noticed that Ian's real self, his soul, had the same yellow eyes as Foxy.

"Mike?" Ian turned to look at me, and the image of his soul faded. I blinked a couple times, coming back to normal.

"I…I didn't think you could sleep." I said. Ian shrugged, pulling himself up.

"I can't, not really. It's just-I was waiting for you, and..."

"It's okay." I said, cutting him off. "Let's get ready." I went inside my office, Ian following me.

"After last night's close call, I want to be better prepared. Next time I might not be so lucky."

I settled down in my chair, getting ready for the usual phone message.

"Hello, hello! Hey! Wow, day four-I knew you could do it!"

"I cut it kind of close yesterday." I said.

"Hey listen, I might not be around to send you a message tomorrow…" As me and Ian kept listening, I heard the sound of something banging on the door on the tape. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Ian look away uncomfortably.

"It's-it's been a bad night here for me." The sound of banging continued, and I couldn't help but wonder how Phone Guy managed to sound so calm.

"Um, I'm kinda glad that I recorded those messages for you er, when I did."

"I remember this part…" Ian said in a small voice. I glanced at him, then turned back to the phone.

"H-hey do me a favor: maybe sometime you could check out those suits in the back room? I'mma try to hold out until someone…checks."

The banging continued throughout the message, and I got a horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach.

"Maybe it won't be so bad. I-I-I always wondered what was in all those empty heads back there…"

Ian let out a whimper. Suddenly, an ominous tune started to play.

"Oh no…" I said at the same time as Phone Guy. The tune kept playing for a few seconds, then a screech, the same heart-stopping shriek Freddy/Travis had let out last night when he tried to grab me, was heard. My eyes widened. I let out a few breaths before looking up at the cameras. Naturally, all of the animatronics were gone. I checked the cameras. Like before, Freddy/Travis was looking right at the cameras with those eerie black eyes, while Bonnie/Tricia and Chica/Hope were in the halls, getting close. I let out one last, shaky breath before looking at Ian. He kept pacing, going from the east door to the west, peeking out every few seconds.

"You tried to save him." I said in realization. "That guy on the phone. That was _you_ banging on the door, like you did on my first night here." Ian nodded sadly.

"He thought I was one of them. That I wanted to stuff him into a suit. I tried to talk to him, but he thought I was tricking him, changing my voice somehow, so he always locked me out every time he saw me coming.

"But on the fourth night-I panicked. All of them were coming quickly, and I just wanted him to get out. I didn't know that banging on the door that much would drain the power." He looked at me sadly, and I was about to comfort him-but then I saw Chica/Hope outside the right door. Thankfully, Ian saw her too, and ran to close the door. The metal door didn't slide down.

"No." He said, and kept pressing the switch again and again. "No no no no no! It's jammed!"

I let out my trademark scared laugh. Was I really about to end up like Phone Guy? Faces started to fill my mind-my mom, who in spite of her faults genuinely cared for me, at least enough to drive me out late every night without complaining. Jeremy Fitzgerald, who could've probably been an ally, or a valuable source of information about the dead kids. And Summer, quite possibly the ONLY girl in college who didn't recoil in disgust when I was around. Pity.

But suddenly, something happened. Chica/Hope started making some jerky movements, her wings rising slowly to grab the sides of her head. She let out a groan. Not an animatronic screech-a sound like a child in pain.

"_I…I don't want to do this anymore!_" A little girl's voice came out of her beak, higher and more childish than the tinny animatronic voice I was used to hearing from back in my childhood. Her eyes flashed yellow like Ian's, instead of their usual black with tiny white pinpricks. Ian's mouth fell open.

"Hope?"

"_Don't make me kill him, PLEASE!_" She sounded like she wanted to cry. Ian took a step forward, reaching out to touch her with his good hand.

"Hope, is that you?" She looked at him-and her eyes flashed back from yellow to black. Hope's brief moment of clarity was over, and Chica was back. She started to lunge at Ian, but then I saved him by doing something very stupid. I pulled off my left shoe and tossed it at her. Of course, it did nothing but bounce harmlessly off her…and now all of her attention was on me.

"Oh fudge."

Ian let out a panicked cry and slammed the door lever again. Fortunately, this time the door slid down, and we were able to lock Chica/Hope out. I quickly checked the other door. Of course, Bonnie/Tricia had come to say hello, so I had to lock her out. I looked at Ian, who was still staring at the door.

"Ian?"

"That was Hope!" He said, whipping around at me. "Not Chica-my _friend_ Hope! Just now, just for a second, she was herself again!" He looked down at the ground. "She…she was always so nice. Just now, I thought…I thought…"

He couldn't finish.

"We'll get her back." I assured him, getting up and putting my hand on his shoulder. "She was able to fight Melody's control over her, even if it WAS only for a little bit. There's…pardon the pun, hope." Ian looked at me, and silvery light appeared as the image of his soul materialized above him, like earlier in the hall. I honestly couldn't tell whether or not the streaks under his eyes were real tears.

"It kills me seeing her like this, Mike! All of them! I want my friends back!" He sank to his knees…and so did his soul. Both entities buried their faces in their hands and started to cry.

And that was when it all finally hit me. I knew before that Ian had died when he was very young, but actually seeing him like this-seeing how small and helpless he really was-big animatronic body or not...I suddenly felt very helpless myself.

Then I got an idea. After checking to make sure that both girls were gone, opening the doors, and getting my shoe back, I opened my bag and pulled out the head of my bear costume.

"Hey, Ian?" I pulled the mask on as he turned to look at me. "You think they'll leave me alone now?" He just stared at me as his soul faded again.

"You _do_ know that whole 'facial recognition' thing isn't true, right?" Ian asked, a bit of a sob still in his voice. "They'll know you're not an animatronic."

"You sure?" I asked. "Cause I've been working on my Freddy impression." I cleared my throat, and in the deepest voice I could muster, boomed out

"Hey kids! Welcome to Freddy Fazbear's Pizza! Nice to eat-I mean, MEET you!"

"You really are crazy, you know that?" Ian asked. I could hear him trying not to laugh, however, and I took that as a good sign.

"Yeah, you're right." I agreed, pulling off the bear head. "I should've gotten the fox suit instead. I'd make a better Foxy than you."

"What?" Ian pulled himself up.

"Yar har har har!" I laughed in a 'piratey' voice. "Ahoy, landlubbers! Ye lot behave, or I'll make ye walk the plank!"

"That was terrible!" Ian laughed, his sadness seeming to disappear. "Sorry Mike, but I've got you beaten there." I raised an eyebrow as I sat back down in my chair to check out the others.

"Sure you do." I snarked. "Just because you look like Foxy doesn't mean…"

"**_Ye best be watchin' what ye say, lad. This cap'n don't take kindly to disrespect._**" I stared at him wide-eyed. That was a _perfect_ imitation of Foxy.

"You can change your voice?" I blinked in surprise.

"Of course I can, I'm in an animatronic." Ian said in his usual voice. "It sucks not being able to get out, but it's got some good bits."

"Like being able to project your soul?" I asked before I could stop myself.

"What?"

"Nothing. Hey…aren't I supposed to be scared for my life right about now?"

"That reminds me…" Ian went back to patrolling the doors, looking like one of the tigers at the zoo. Or a fox at the zoo. Whatever. Somehow, I was able to make it through the night, even when Freddy/Travis showed up. Thank God for Ian and his Roadrunner legs.

"Made it." I said when we reached six. "And with 2% power to spare." I was tempted to say that Phone Guy would've probably survived if he'd just let Ian help him, but thought better of it. I didn't want to make him cry again.

"Well, tonight's my fifth night before Mr. Fazbirch takes me on permanently. I'm gonna have to have a word with him about just giving me a cruddy tablet with a little battery power. Well…among other things."

"You want me to pop out and scare him sometime?" Ian asked. "Teach him a lesson?"

I smiled at him-the first genuine smile I'd given anyone in a while.

"Later, Ian." I walked out-and out of the corner of my eye swore I saw a white face glaring at me.

"Hmm?" I turned around. Nothing. Shrugging, I turned back around and went outside to wait for my mom to pick me up.

**A/N**: _Yeah...I lied ^^' No intense action in this, just some cute big brother/little brother moments between Mike and Ian. But hey, things obviously wouldn't be as tense as in the game, since one of the dead kids/animatronics is helping Mike. Also, I think this might be my longest chapter yet! :D Feeling pretty proud of myself for that. Now let me explain a few things:_

_1\. From now on I'm gonna refer to the other kids by both their real AND animatronic names, i.e Freddy/Travis, Bonnie/Tricia, etc. _

_2\. Ian's soul becomes visible outside of Foxy whenever he feels strong emotion or is really relaxed. When the other kids eventually get their minds back, the same will be true of them._

_Well, that's all for now. Review, please!_


	11. It Rains Cats and Dogs

**A/N**: _Really, guys?! Only ONE review for my last chapter?! I was really proud of that one, guys! I work really hard on this story, you know, it would be nice to get SOME kind words for my efforts! Come on! :(_

**Disclaimer**: _I own it like I own the moon._

"_Fritz? Fritz sweetie, are you alright?! Fritz!"_ _The little girl opened her eyes slowly. Her mother's worried but smiling face was the first thing she saw._

"_Oh Fritz, thank God!" Relieved tears filled her eyes as she hugged her daughter._

"_M…Mom?" Fritz said slowly. "What ha…?" She started to tilt her head forward, then was suddenly aware of the bandages. She slowly reached up to feel them-and that was when the memories came flooding back. She had shouted at Mike to go get her a soda. When he had left, she put the finishing touches on his birthday present-putting a bow on the box and writing her name on the wrapping paper. Then Foxy had lunged forward…_

_Fritz let out a scream as the image of all those teeth filled her mind…as well as the memory of the pain that came afterwards. _

"_Fritz, Fritz, it's okay!" Holly Schmidt looked her daughter in the eye, holding her shoulders to try and calm her down. "You're safe now!" _

"_Wh-where's Mike?" Fritz asked in a trembling voice. After everything, she just wanted to see her big brother again, for him to make things better like he always did. Holly bit her lip nervously._

"_You want to see Mike?"_

"_Mmm-hmm." Fritz said in a small voice. _

"_Well…okay." Holly said nervously. "But just so you know Fritz…your brother was very traumatized after seeing what happened to you. You've been in the hospital for almost two weeks now…"_

"_Mom," Fritz started, "I want to see Mike." Holly just swallowed down the nervousness and stood up, walking out to the hall. After a couple minutes, she returned with a small boy._

"_Mike?" She said with a sad smile, "Fritz is awake. She wants to say hello now, okay?" She seated the boy on the same chair she had been sitting on, and Fritz got a good look at him. The ten-year-old boy in front of her LOOKED like Mike, except paler. His once light brown hair had turned completely gray, and the light had gone from his eyes, almost making him look as if he were dead. Those lifeless eyes were half-closed and staring right ahead, instead of at Fritz. The only indication at all that he was still alive was the slow rising and falling of his chest as he breathed._

"_Mike?" Fritz asked, getting scared again. "Mike, what happened to you?" He didn't answer, still staring at nothing. Fritz thought that maybe he hadn't heard her, so she tried asking again._

"_Mike?" He still didn't talk. He didn't even blink. _

"_Mike, what's wrong with you?!" Fritz screamed. _

"_Fritz!" Fritz ignored her mother and started shaking her brother's shoulders._

"_TALK TO ME!" Finally, Mike slowly, slowly turned his head, his now cold eyes staring right into Fritz's horrified ones, looking right through her. Fritz let out a choked sob, letting go of him._

"_Fritz, baby…" Fritz barely noticed the comforting hand her mother put on her shoulder. She just kept looking at the empty, lifeless shell that had once been her brother._

* * *

I looked down at the picture in my hands. It was of Mike and me, when we were little. Things were so different back then. We were both smiling and laughing, one arm around the other one's shoulder. Mike looked so different back then-his eyes were much brighter and full of life, and his hair was light brown instead of ashy gray. Not to mention he didn't have raccoon circles around his eyes.

_That damn fox. _

Now, before you say anything, I know it's stupid to blame a glitching animatronic for this, but it's the truth. He'd bitten my fucking HEAD and seeing something like that happen to me had, for lack of a better word, _broken_ Mike. He wasn't the same after that, and I didn't like it. Was it wrong of me to be so harsh to him all the time? Yes, I'll admit it. Was it over the top for me to claim to be Fritz 'Smith' instead of Schmidt and say that Mike was a distant cousin instead of my brother when we both went to high school? Okay, yes. But I didn't know what else to do. It's been nine years now. And now that Mike is working at THAT place…

I glared at the picture. I wanted to throw something. I put the picture aside and grabbed my nearby stuffed dog, throwing him at my bedroom door. My toy cat followed, hitting the door with enough force to bounce off and hit my desk lamp.

"SHIT!" I bolted out of bed and grabbed the lamp before it could crash to the ground. Just as I started to put it back on my desk, who else should I hear but Mike himself.

"Hey. Jeremy Fitzgerald? It's Mike. The kid from yesterday?"

I froze.

"I wanted to ask you a couple questions." A pause. I guessed that Jeremy person, whoever he was, was saying something to Mike.

"You used to work at Freddy's too, right? What position?" Another pause. "You were a night guard too? Did they…did the animatronics come after you too?"

My blood ran cold. _Come after you?! _ Just what the hell was going on in that place?! I started to walk towards the door, to listen more carefully.

"Well, that's fun." Mike responded dryly. "I can't imagine having to deal with _ten _of them." He started to say something else, but walked off before I could hear more. I leaned against the wall.

Come after him? Dealing with 'ten' of them? Just what the hell was going on?! Were the animatronic characters after Mike? I shook my head.

"That's crazy!" I scolded myself out loud. "For crying out loud Fritz, they're kiddie characters in a children's pizza place!" Still though, they always HAD looked a little creepy. And Mike HAD implied last night that he might not be coming back. And Foxy HAD munched my head all those years ago. Come to think of it, I faintly remember his eyes flashing black shortly before he…

Despite myself, I shuddered.

"Just what the hell is going on there?" I was half-tempted to go outside and confront Mike, but thought better of it. Knowing him, he'd just be all weird and cryptic again, only giving me half-truths. I knew my brother too well.

And at the same time, I didn't know enough. Suddenly, a crazy thought came to me. An idea so stupid, so reckless…but I didn't care. Nine years was long enough. I wanted my brother back already. And if I got to see into his world…well, a girl can only hope. I picked up my phone and called my boyfriend.

"Hey, Chad? I need you to do me a favor…"

* * *

"Are you sure about this?" Chad turned to look at me, his face full of concern.

"Yeah." I said. "Just drop me off, it'll be alright."

"I don't get it." Chad's expression turned serious under his glasses. Why did you need me to give you a ride? Why couldn't you just take your own car?"

"My mom would notice that it was missing when she got back home." I explained. Chad raised an eyebrow.

"You've got everything figured out, don't you?"

"Not everything." I said quietly.

"Remind me again why you're doing this?" Chad asked.

_Because something weird is going on in this place and my brother might be in danger and I'm going to go crazy unless I find out for certain!_

That was what I wanted to say. But instead I said

"There it is!" Chad stopped the car, sighing as he brushed some of his floofy black hair out of his face.

"I really hope you know what you're doing, Fritz. I don't want anything to happen to you."

"Don't worry." I encouraged him, trying for a winning grin. "I'll be fine!" To prove my point, I patted my backpack, and Chad looked at me with concern.

"Just be careful, okay?"

"Of course I will." I told him. "After all, we still have that date at the boardwalk next week." I smiled and kissed him to comfort him.

"Bye." Chad gave me one last look, then drove off.

The truth? I was scared. If there really WAS someone or something that could hurt me, I doubted a crowbar, taser, and baseball bat could do much. But I was already here. Too late to turn back now. Taking a deep breath, I walked to the back door of Freddy Fazbear's and turned the knob, opening the door.

**A/N**: _Oh Fritz, you couldn't have chosen a WORSE time to go spy on your brother. Well, if you manage to get in without the kids/animatronics getting you, you'll learn everything-and you might not be happy...what do you guys think? Will she make it? Or will Freddy Fazbear's get TWO new additions? Review to find out! _

_Yes, I'll admit it, Chad's design was inspired by Markiplier, because why not? XD And seriously though-GIVE. ME. REVIEWS! Please?_


	12. Bring your Sister to Work Day

**Disclaimer**: _Don't own it, never will._

"I've got a bone to pick with you." Mr. Fazbirch looked up at me in surprise, nervousness etching across his features.

"Wha-what?"

"Did you know that I've had several near-death experiences these last four nights?" I asked calmly as I started to pull on my blue guard jacket. "Y'know, it's funny. The animatronics seem so friendly during the day. You wouldn't think that they'd be capable of killing people." I turned my gaze on him, and I swear Mr. Fazbirch lost some of his color.

"Mike, you have to understand…we're not doing too well financially-there isn't much the company can…" I leaned down over him, and he seemed to forget how to speak. He was scared out of his mind. I tended to have that effect on people.

"Tell me, _Boss Man_-how many more people will have to die before you do something to fix this?" Mr. Fazbirch gulped.

"How many people's memories are you pissing all over by leaving their bodies to rot in the Freddy suits?" He tried to give me an angry look…and failed miserably.

"Y-y-you can't do this!" Mr. Fazbirch stammered. "You have no right to…"

"I've been almost killed more times than I can count." I said, as monotone as possible. "Heck, I'd probably be dead seven times over already if I hadn't had some help." Mr. Fazbirch blinked.

"Help? Who…?"

"Well, I should get going." I said. "My shift's about to start. I pulled my hat down over my eyes. "But I'm not done with you." I started to walk out…and that was when Mr. Fazbirch finally seemed to grow a spine. He bolted upright in his seat, giving me a heated glare.

"Who would you tell?!" I turned to stare at him again. This time, however, Mr. Fazbirch didn't back down. "You just do your job, okay?! And whatever you know-or THINK you know, forget it! If you breathe a word of this to anyone…" His voice wavered. "I…I know you won't do anything. Well, at least nothing as drastic as…"

Mr. Fazbirch stopped abruptly. Before I could say one more word, he hurried off, heading down the hall, and disappearing outside.

"Ah man!" I turned around and saw Ian behind me. "I wanted to scare him!"

"You weren't just kidding yesterday?" I asked, a bit surprised.

"Nope!" Ian grinned big, showing all of Foxy's sharp teeth. "'Foxy' was going to have a **_word with him about leaving his first mate to fend fer himself._**"

"Not gonna lie, that's a bit creepy." I said with a grin of my own as we reached my office. To my surprise, the phone started ringing.

_But wait-didn't Phone Guy die last night?_ I put it to speaker anyway...and got a bunch of garbled nonsense.

Well, that was random. I looked at the screens-and saw that the others were all missing.

"They're out." I informed Ian, who was pacing again, like he had last night. "You ready for this?" He looked at me confidently.

"Yeah, I'm ready." I tried for a smile.

"Just you wait. Once the night is over, Mr. Fazbirch will take me on as a full-time employee. And I'll get you and your friends out of those shells." Ian just smiled gratefully at me before patrolling again.

Suddenly, something on the cameras caught my attention.

"What the…?"

"What is it?" Ian asked.

"Looks like we have something other than your friends to worry about tonight." I said. "Someone was actually stupid enough to break in."

"What?!" Ian asked, walking up to me. "Who would…?!" I suddenly got a better look at the person on the cameras, and my heart stopped.

"_She_ would."

Fritz was walking through the halls, armed with nothing but a backpack. Ian's eyepatch flipped up as he let out a strangled cry.

"Is that…?!"

"Yeah." I answered, my eyes widening. "My sister decided to pay me a little visit at work. And she couldn't have picked a worse night to come."

"Is _everyone_ in your family crazy?!" Ian asked, looking from the cameras back to me. "If the others catch her…" I suddenly noticed Bonnie/Tricia and Chica/Hope at either of my doors. I ran to lock Hope out, while Ian locked Tricia out.

"Go get her." I instructed Ian.

"Huh?" He looked at me in confusion.

"In a few seconds when I open the door, go save Fritz. Get her outside, make sure Travis doesn't get to her…or Melody does." I looked back at the door, squinting in concentration.

"3…2…1…" I opened the door. Thankfully, Hope was gone. I motioned with my arm.

"Go." Ian ran out the door quick as a flash, and I hit the lights for the other door. Bonnie/Tricia was still there, and I swore under my breath. I checked the cameras. Chica/Hope had gone back to the stage. I checked the East Hall. Freddy/Travis was looking right at me.

Suddenly, I heard a crash.

"Huh?" I went back to the East Door, and hit the lights again. Bonnie/Tricia was finally gone, and I opened the door.

"Well, that's a relief. Now I've just got to wait for…"

A shout echoed through the halls, and I couldn't think.

Despite myself, I couldn't stop the flashbacks from replaying in my mind. Once again, I was a little boy who was powerless to help his sister when she was in trouble. Yes, Fritz could be a pain in the butt, but she was still my sister. And if they stuffed her in an animatronic suit…

"Fritz?"

More shouting suddenly came from the hall, growing louder…and mixed with cries from a little boy.

_Wait a second…_

"PUT ME DOWN!" I whipped around just in time to see Ian run in with a _very_ scared-looking Fritz. She'd somehow managed to get her backpack open, and was now hitting him with a crowbar.

"I remember you! You messed up my head, fox! So what, are you going to finish the…?!"

"Here?" I looked up at Ian, trying to keep myself from freaking out. "You brought her _here_?" Fritz stopped trying to hit Ian and turned to look at me, her fear disappearing.

"Mike?"

"I panicked, okay?!" Ian answered, putting Fritz down as gently as he could.

"I told you to put her outside. Unless the others kept you from getting outside…"

"She kept hitting me!"

"Mike?!" Fritz looked from me to Ian, confusion spreading across her features, but I ignored her.

"You can't feel, right?" I asked Ian matter-of-factly. "So that couldn't have possibly…" Fritz had evidently had enough.

"MIKE!" Both me and Ian snapped around to look at her at the same time.

"Care to tell me what the FUCK is going on here?!" Ian let out a small cry, covering his mouth with his hand and hook.

"She said a bad word! A _really_ bad word!" I stared at him. If, for whatever reason, after everything I'd seen and heard I thought that he was really Foxy and not a little kid, all my doubts were now gone.

"Yeah, she does that a lot." I informed him. Fritz made squinty eyes at Ian, then at me.

"What's going on?! Why are you two so chummy?! Tell me what's going on here!" Ian and I both stared at her.

"What's that saying-déjà vu?" Ian asked me.

I let out a sigh.

"I've got three possessed animatronics out for my blood around the clock, and now I have to worry about my kid sister as well. Could this get any worse?" I folded my arms…and suddenly the lights snapped off as the power went out. The only light was Ian's glowing yellow eyes.

"Not one word." I warned him.

**A/N**: _And...things go from bad to worse. Will Mike and Fritz survive? Stay tuned! And review!_


	13. We Spend the Night on a Pirate Ship

**A/N**: _Here I am, back again with another chapter! Before we get into this, I'd like to give a shout-out to all my reviewers, since I haven't done that for a little while ^^'_

_Samtastic V2.0-Glad you liked the last chapter. I hope this one will be just as satisfying :)_

_XXPay4XtraShippingsXX-Yep, gonna be a fun night for Fritz! Luckily she's a tough gal, maybe she'll make it? ;)_

_MMiladinova-Luckily, Ian can't feel anything, so the crowbar didn't hurt him. And yeah, watch what you say Mike. Shmuck._

_3shadowprincess-What can I say, Mike just has bad timing. Guess it runs in the family, since Fritz decided to sneak in on the most dangerous night._

_Elhini Prime-Just you wait...you'll be feeling even more sorry for Ian by the end of this chapter..._

_Duperghoul-Man, don't even worry about it. You're an awesome reviewer-both for this AND for Rewritten Pastas. Thanks for being great. And that goes for all of you guys._

_Now, without further ado, on to the chapter (which is gonna be another one set from Ian's POV)_

**Disclaimer**: _I own nothing but my own imagination_

Ever since I got back to normal after being under Melody's control, every single day has been a nightmare. Not just because I'm stuck possessing Foxy, but because of the things she made me do in this body. But I never, NEVER forgot _her _face.

Fritz was a little girl, eight years old like Hope. And Melody had made me hurt her, just because she thought she was being annoying. When Mike told me that she was alright now, that was one of the best things I'd ever heard. At least I knew that that little girl hadn't ended up dead, like the night guards I'd hunted in the past.

But now she was back, grown up…and she hadn't forgotten me. I didn't blame her for being scared of me. But at least, I hoped I could make things better between us by protecting her and Mike throughout the night. Looks like that wasn't going to work, though.

Travis…sorry, I mean Freddy-appeared in the door, that scary music box tune suddenly starting to play as his eyes and teeth showed in the dark doorway.

"Oh my God." I heard Fritz say behind me. Next to her, Mike started to laugh, and I could imagine that creepy, nervous look on his face. The thought that he was about to die suddenly filled me with energy. The only friend I'd had in years, the only one who tried to save us, was about to end up like everyone else before him, and his sister would be joining him.

Before I could stop myself, I caught the back of Mike's shirt with my hook and slung him over my shoulder before grabbing Fritz again, picking her up.

"HEY!" Fritz shouted. "What are you…?!"

"HANG ON!" I warned them. Before Mike or Fritz could say anything else, I dashed out through the other door as Freddy came lunging in with a screech. I barely noticed Fritz shouting out again as I bolted through the hall. Somehow, neither Bonnie or Chica showed up.

"Where are you taking us?!" Fritz demanded.

"There!" I announced. Fritz turned to see what I was pointing at…and a horrified look crossed her face.

"No! No, no, no!" Mike turned around to see, before looking back at his sister.

"Fritz," he started in a soft tone, "It's okay. We'll be safe there. I promise, nothing will happen to you."

And with that, I ran with them into Pirates' Cove, bursting through the purple curtains. I set Mike and Fritz down as gently as I could before peeking out through the curtains to make sure that none of the others had followed us. The coast was clear, so I turned back to them.

"You guys okay?" I asked.

"No I am NOT okay!" Fritz shouted (She'd said another word before 'okay', but I'm not going to repeat it!) "First I almost get attacked by three psycho robots, only to get snatched up by another one _twice_ and be ran around this place, and apparently my brother is friends with the robot that gave me brain damage?!" She put her hands on her hips and glared at me and Mike.

"Will someone tell me what's going on already?! I don't even care which one of you does it!" Mike looked at me.

"You were right Ian-déjà vu." Fritz raised an eyebrow.

"'Ian'?!"

"Long story." Mike said. "But before I tell you, we should probably get to a better hiding place." He pointed at the ship-Foxy's pirate ship, which had been a part of Pirates' Cove way back when, before the Cove had been closed. Back before _I _was Foxy.

"Right…" I walked ahead, feeling too nervous to look at either of the teenagers. This was going to be a very weird night…

* * *

Fritz was quiet for a long time after me and Mike (okay, mostly Mike) told her my story. She stared ahead, probably letting everything sink in.

"Um, Fritz…?" Mike asked, looking at her. Finally, she blinked, coming back to normal.

"They're possessed?" Fritz asked. "All of the animatronics are possessed by the souls of the dead kids?"

"Yeah." Mike nodded.

"And except for Captain Foxface there, allegedly;" (I got a little sensitive about that part), "All of them are trying to kill you?"

"Yes." Mike answered again.

"And they've killed almost every night watchman who came to work here, with a vengeful little girl as the ringleader?"

"Yeah." Mike didn't even blink. How could he not be freaking out?!

"And even though you know all of this, you keep coming back here every night?" Fritz put her hands on her hips again, and I could tell that she was about to explode. I gulped a little, bracing myself as Mike said

"Yes." There was no sound. Suddenly, my friends weren't the scariest things in Freddy Fazbear's.

"Mike?"

"Yeah?" Mike asked.

"ARE YOU COMPLETELY INSANE?!" I let out a small yelp and motioned for Fritz to be quiet. But she just kept shouting.

"Killer robots, Mike! What am I supposed to tell Mom and Dad if something happens to you, huh?! The guy on the phone said that even if you died, management would just cover up your death! People are DEAD, Mike! People have _died_ here!"

"Shh!" I hissed. "They'll hear you!"

"Shut up, fox boy!" Fritz snapped, and I flinched, holding my hand and hook close to me.

"Yes, ma'am!"

"I know the risks, Fritz." Mike said, never raising his voice, "And I don't care. I want to help Ian and the others. He was able to come back to normal, after all…"

"Yeah, after _mutilating my head!_" I looked down guiltily again, and an angry look crossed Mike's face.

"Fritz…"

"They're in Pirates' Cove!" Melody's voice suddenly echoed through the halls. "Get them!" Immediately, Mike and Fritz stopped fighting, and looked at the curtains.

"Crabcakes." Mike said. Fritz picked up the crowbar and baseball bat that she had brought, tossing the crowbar to Mike.

"I am NOT going to die by being stuffed into a stupid bear suit!" Fritz said, determined. "If I'm going down, I'm at least going down fighting!" I looked at her in surprise, then at Mike. He tightened his grip on the crowbar as Fritz stepped in front of him a little.

Below us, the curtains moved, and Bonnie stepped through. She looked up at us, and I moved between her and the Schmidts. She took a shaky step forward, then another.

I couldn't help but feel a little sad, thinking that that thing used to be one of my friends.

She took another step forward.

_She's going to hurt them, Ian. She's going to do to them what she, and the others, have been doing to night guards in the past. They're not your friends anymore._

Bonnie grabbed the netting that dangled off the ship and started to pull herself up. Chica and Freddy came in behind her, splitting the curtains. I tensed.

_Travis, Tricia, Hope. I know you guys are still in there. Please…please don't do this!_

Suddenly, I remembered all three of them tearing into me. All the times they'd tried to hurt me after I tried helping the night guards…and I lost it.

"AHHHHH!"

"Ian?" Mike looked at me in concern. "Ian, are you…" I backed away from the side of the ship as they got closer, unable to stop myself from shaking. I didn't care how I looked to them at the moment. I was scared! I didn't want to end up a pile of scrap metal! Suddenly…everything stopped. The animatronics froze for a few seconds before slowly, slowly, climbing back down.

"Huh?" Fritz blinked. "What just happened?"

"I'll tell you what happened." Mike said, looking at his watch. "It's six a.m. My shift is over." He looked over at me. I must have looked really scared, because he patted my back and said in a relaxing voice. "It's alright. It's over. They're not going to get you, okay?" I nodded slowly, not able to say anything.

"We…we're alive?" Fritz asked.

"Yep." Mike said. "And it's because of Ian." He looked over at me. "If he hadn't brought us here, hidden us on the ship-the others would've found us sooner." I still couldn't say anything. I just pressed my index finger to my hook nervously.

"Will you come back tonight?" Fritz asked.

"Yep." Mike answered as he started climbing down. "I survived all five nights, now they're gonna hire me on as a full-time employee. Hopefully now I'll better find a way to save these kids." Fritz just stared at him.

"Um, Mike? You go on ahead. I want to have a word with Ian." Mike stared at her. "I won't do anything." She promised. "I just want to talk." Mike gave her a look that told her that he didn't trust her, but he gave me one last concerned look before continuing down, and leaving the cove.

Fritz stared after him, then turned to me, crossing her arms. She was shorter than me, but she was SCARY.

"Alright, 'Ian'," she started, putting finger quotes around my name, "It's been a very long, very weird night for me. I'm not sure what to believe after everything I've seen and heard. But I know one thing for sure-you ruined my life. Mine AND Mike's." Her eyes narrowed dangerously as she said this. "He used to be happier, you know. We got along a lot better before you _almost killed me_." It almost felt like I was being stabbed again.

"I'm sorry for that, Fritz!" I said. "I didn't mean to…" I reached out with my good hand, but Fritz drew back.

"Don't touch!"

"Sorry!" I said, bringing my hand back. Fritz fixed me with her coldest glare yet.

"A warning-if you…_any_ of you, do to Mike what you did to the previous night guards, if you hurt him in any way, if the day comes where my brother DOESN'T come home from work, I'm coming back here." She leaned in close to my face, her eyes flashing angrily.

"And I will _personally_ disassemble every last one of you. Got it?!"

"G-got it!" I answered, my voice barely above a whisper. Without another word to me, Fritz walked to the side of the ship, and before long she was gone, leaving me alone in the darkness.

**A/N**: _Wow Fritz...cold. Though you can hardly blame her, given her past with 'Foxy'. And I'll come out and admit it, I borrowed a scene from 'Rewritten Pastas' for this chapter. Though it's a little different this time. Well, now that Mike's survived all five trial nights, what will happen now? Stay tuned, and as always, review!_


	14. Talking to a Dog

**A/N**: _Hello, people. So yeah, FNAF 4 is out now, and I've seen Markiplier's Let's Plays for it. That being said though, I don't intend to change a thing about this story. Like I said at the very beginning, this is fan FICTION, and there are already a lot of things in my story that are different from canon-Fritz is Mike's SISTER in this, for crying out loud! I already have my own ideas for this and I know exactly where I'm going with this story-though I'll probably put in a reference to FNAF 4 later on. Now, to give some shout-outs to the people who reviewed the last chapter:_

_Da Drunken Ork-Which 'it' were you referring to there, dude? 0_0_

_Elhini Prime-I'm glad you feel that way :) I was actually worried that people would be like 'Fritz, why u so mean? Don't be such a bitch!' and other stuff like that. There are two sides to every story, after all. But yeah, I feel really sorry for Ian myself-and_I_wrote him!_

_XXPay4XtraShippingsXX-Well, you're just going to have to keep reading to find out now, won't you? :) Glad you're enjoying it._

_Rose Verdict-Yeah, Fritz is scary when she gets really mad. AND she's a mechanic in training, so she could actually make good on her threat...glad to have you on board, by the way! I hope the rest of the story is to your liking :)_

_Captain Yiff-Yeah, I know Bonnie's a dude in canon. However, I absolutely HATE the Smurfette Principle, so I made Bonnie female in my version to balance out the gender ratio between the four main animatronics. Like I said above, this is fanfiction, after all._

_Unnamed Guest-That's...actually a really good idea. I think I'mma do it._

_MMiladinova-True, true. Fritz might just join her brother again one night to help keep the still crazy animatronics away...hint hint. Not gonna give anything away, but it's NOT gonna be a fun night...for anyone._

_Well, that's all done. This chapter's gonna be set from Melody's POV. Let's see what the puppet-turned-puppetmaster has to say about this whole situation..._

**Disclaimer**: _Don't own it, never will._

How dare he. How _dare_ he.

This new guy-what was his name? Mike? He was really getting on my nerves. If it wasn't bad enough that he'd managed to survive all five nights and was about to get hired on full-time, he'd only done so by lying to Ian. I don't know WHAT those two talked about while they were in the office, but whatever it was, I didn't like it.

_He was taking my friend away from me._

I clenched my hands into fists at the thought. That dead-eyed weirdo didn't care about him, about _any_of us. I knew that he was lying to Ian, using him, like all grown-ups. Selfish, that's all they are!

And they have no problem with lying to kids to get what they want. I learned early that you can't trust anyone older than twelve.

_All grown-ups are liars._

I felt tears, real tears, start to sting my cheeks. I looked at Hope and the twins performing on stage to for other kids who'd come. Couldn't talk to them right now. Along with the fact that they were busy, I knew those other kids would get scared if a _ghost_ just came onstage in the middle of the show. And I knew Ian wouldn't listen to me.

I was alone. Like I'd been all my life. Like the day I died. That thought made even more tears come to my face. I gritted my teeth angrily as I walked down the dark, empty hall.

_Don't cry. Don't cry. Don't even THINK about crying!_

I walked straight through the emergency exit door, going outside, and started blinking in the sunlight.

I suddenly realized how long it had been since I've been outside the pizzeria. I looked around, seeing people walking around, going on with their lives, almost all of them happy and smiling.

A world I didn't belong in anymore. I couldn't let anyone see me. I couldn't go back…ever. I don't think anyone would've even missed me, or made posters so that someone could let random people know that I was gone. I couldn't go home. But it's not like I even had a home to go to in the first place…

Finally, I couldn't hold it in anymore. My fists shook as I started sniffling, even more tears leaking out of my eyes.

Suddenly, I heard a small whimpering. I turned around in surprise and saw a dog standing next to me. Scrappy little mutt, probably hadn't eaten in weeks. It was so skinny I could see its ribs, and its fur was really wiry and ratty-looking. It just kept looking at me with sad eyes, and a quiet stare-off went on between the two of us for a few moments.

"You're not scared of me?" The dog stepped a little closer to me, as if expecting some food.

"I'll take that as a 'no'." I started petting it. "We have something in common, mutt." I said to it. "We're both strays. This pizza joint…it's the closest thing I've ever known to a home. A _real_ home.

"My mom slept around with a bunch of different men. She ended up with me after one of her late-night romps." I glared. "But she NEVER treated me like a daughter. I was just some kid she got stuck with and she saw no problem with treating me like garbage. Leaving me by myself, night after night, while she went to do who-knows-what with a bunch of strange men for money. Heck, the only times she ever told people I was her daughter was to get other people to feel sorry for her. She used me-like a puppet."

The dog looked at me sadly, and I petted its head.

"She left me alone the day I died, too. All my life, Freddy Fazbear's was the only thing that made me happy. I'd sneak out sometimes to see if I could get a couple slices of Fazbear's pizza while my mom was out 'working'. Then one day when I was twelve, she brought me here after school. Said it was a special treat for me. I was so happy playing with the animatronics that I didn't even notice she'd left. But when I saw she wasn't there, I ran outside. I couldn't find her _anywhere_."

Angry tears filled my eyes at the memory.

"My own mother ABANDONED me!" The dog whined softly and started licking my face. I looked down at it. Big, warm brown eyes met my own, and I hugged the dog.

"Then _he_ came along. The man in purple. He said he'd help me…but he lied. Just like my mom did. He tried to put me in his car, but I fought as hard as I could to get away." I laughed a little. "Y'know, I don't think he really wanted to kill me, just kidnap me. But he got angry…and he had a knife…"

I put my hand to my chest, biting my lip as I remembered the cold, sharp blade entering my heart.

"It's all fuzzy after that, but I remember that he was scared. He was nervous, talking to himself about what he'd do with my body. That made me mad." I gritted my teeth. "I wasn't ready to go yet. I wanted to stay behind, make sure I hurt him, like he hurt me. Like _Mom_ hurt me. The last thing I remember seeing before everything went black was a puppet sitting in the window."

I sighed as the last of my anger disappeared.

"I was lonely for so long, though. When the purple man killed the others, I thought that maybe we could all get revenge-together. That we could make the grown-ups suffer. Or at least night guards. But they just…I don't know."

I scratched under the dog's chin without thinking.

"Maybe I'm too hard on Ian. I never meant to hurt him. But he just doesn't get it. Why can't he see that I'm trying to help him?! Help all of us!" My anger suddenly returned full-force.

"Whatever bologna that guy's been feeding him, I'm gonna make sure it stops." The dog whined, but I barely noticed.

"I'm going to kill Mike Schmidt. Then we can all be friends again, and take our revenge on every new night guard who comes to work here until HE returns."

**A/N**: _Well, now we know a little more about Melody, and her personality. Will Mike be safe from her wrath? Will the other kids be able to break free of her control? Will I EVER stop asking questions I already know the answers to?! Stay tuned, and leave me plenty of reviews to find out!_


	15. I Ain't Afraid of No Ghost

**A/N**: _Hello, people. I wasn't going to post this chapter until tomorrow, but since it's FNAFs anniversary, I decided to go ahead and put it up tonight. Damn, this fandom is so huge it's hard to believe it's only been one year. So, in honor of Five Nights' birthday, here's the next chapter. Thanks to all of you for all your reviews and follows. My hope is that this becomes my most-reviewed story on here, and maybe even a mention or two on TV Tropes? Sorry, I'm just being greedy now 0/0 Well, on to the story._

**Disclaimer**: _Scott Cawthon is a 44-year-old married man and father. I'm a single college-aged girl. Therefore, I'm not him, and as such, don't own Five Nights at Freddy's._

"Yeah, the Marionette was a problem when I was working at Freddy's." Jeremy said, taking a sip of his coffee. "Had to keep winding a music box or it'd jump out and try to strangle me."

"_She_." Jeremy raised an eyebrow, looking at me.

"Hmm?"

"Nothing." I said quickly, wanting to kick myself.

It was the next day. I'd agreed to meet with Jeremy, so we could discuss our experiences more.

"Right…" Jeremy said. "Anyway, there were the old animatronics and new, more cutesy versions." He chuckled a little. "Toy Chica? Please. Why they thought it was a good idea to have a sexy chicken in booty shorts as a mascot in a children's pizza place is beyond me." I winced a little at the thought.

"Why did the toy animatronics come after you?" I asked. "Were those possessed too?"

"Nah." Jeremy answered. "They really _were_ malfunctioning. Though I wouldn't be surprised if they were possessed, with the way they acted. Maybe there was something more going on there…"

So yeah, Jeremy knew about the dead children. So I'd decided to be honest with him about that. Well, for the most part. Ian had still been under Melody's control during his time as night guard, so I decided to keep him my little secret.

"They didn't have any doors in the old place." Jeremy continued. "Just me, a flashlight, and a Freddy mask. It only worked on the toy animatronics, though. The old models weren't fooled for a second." He scoffed. "Probably cause the kids knew better." He wiped his mouth with a purple napkin. "I know they were angry about what happened to them, but couldn't they tell that not every night guard who came to work at Freddy's was the man who killed them?"

"They're kids." I said, playing innocent. "All they know for certain about their killer was that he was a night guard."

"I suppose you've got a point." Jeremy said. "Still though-all those people dying senselessly…"

"I want to try and help them." I said without skipping a beat. "I might be crazy, but I want to help them find peace and move on. Then maybe, I dunno, there'd be no more need for senseless bloodshed."

Jeremy put his coffee down and looked at me with a serious expression.

"Mike…you're right." I put down my water, which I'd started to raise to my lips, and looked at him. Jeremy then knit his eyebrows together.

"You _are_ crazy."

"Not the first time I've heard that one." I answered. "Trust me, I've heard every insult in the book. I could care less what other people think of me."

Jeremy smirked.

"You've got spunk kid, I'll give you that. Hell, you've lasted this long, maybe…I dunno, you'll find some way through this." His eyes widened. "Wait a second. So that day we met in the library, when you were looking up all that spirit stuff…"

"It was to try and help the kids." I confirmed. "See if there was some way to get their souls out of the animatronics."

"Look, Mike…" Jeremy looked around to make sure that nobody was around to listen to us before leaning closer to me. "What if they don't WANT to leave? What if their souls are so tainted with anger and revenge that they want to stay, to make sure everyone suffers like they did?"

"Like I said, they're just children." I answered simply. "They can't have THAT much hatred in them. I have to at least try."

"Crazy bastard." Jeremy said, shaking his head. "Risking your life for some kids who'd just as soon see you dead."

It took all of my self-control to not glare at him, though I clenched my hands into fists under the table. Jeremy didn't know better. All the kids had still been crazy when he worked there. But since I knew the truth, that the kids didn't even want any part of this, I couldn't help but feel a bit angry at how he was talking about them like they were cold-blooded killers.

"But since you're so determined to save them, I'll humor you." Jeremy said. "I'll tell you what, you focus on staying alive, I'll do all the research. See what I can find about exorcising them, or whatever you want to call it." I looked at him, not believing it.

"You're serious?" I asked.

"Yeah, why not?" Jeremy answered with a shrug. "You're still young. You've got your whole life ahead of you. It'd be a shame if you got yourself killed before you get laid." I narrowed my eyes at him.

"I'm asexual, so that wasn't going to happen soon anyway."

"Before you get your first kiss, then." Jeremy said.

"Well…thanks for the help." I said, standing up. "Let me know if you find anything, okay?"

"Of course, of course." Jeremy said, shaking my hand. "Like I said though, you try and stay alive. You won't be able to help ANYONE if you're dead."

* * *

"Hey, Ian." I said as I walked into my office. The little boy-turned-fox animatronic walked out of the shadows, looking at the paper in my hand.

"What's that?" He asked.

"My first paycheck." I informed him, scowling at the meager amount on the check. "Not much, considering I almost got killed at least twice, and had to spend some of last night hiding. Still, I guess it's something."

"What is it with grown-ups and money?" Ian asked, scratching his head with his hook.

"Hey, I stuck around this place for five whole nights." I said, sitting down in my chair. "I think I deserve SOMETHING for my troubles, little boy."

"Little boy?!" Ian said indignantly. "I'm bigger than you!"

"I'm older." I said breezily.

"That's only because I never got the chance to grow up!" He argued. "If I'd lived, I'd be…" He started counting off his fingers with his hook, and I checked the cameras.

"Yeah, that's what I thought. All of them are out."

"Mike…?" Ian started, "What'll you do if tonight is like last night? If the power goes out again? I don't think we'll be able to hide again." He looked at me nervously, and I answered

"I dunno, can you copter me out with your tail?" Ian cocked his head to the side like a dog.

"Never mind." I said. "We'll cross that bridge when we get there. For now, let's just…"

I didn't get a chance to finish. The lights started flickering again, and once more Golden Freddy appeared in my office. Before either me or Ian could do anything, he lunged right at me.

**A/N**: _Uh-oh! It looks like Melody's got Mike! Or does she? Remember, not everything is as it seems at Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. BTW, Mike comparing Ian to Tails was meant to be an inside joke, since I imagine my version of Mike sounding like Sonic from Sonic Boom XD Now then, be kind and give me reviews? Please?_


	16. A Golden Opportunity

**A/N**: _Hey, guys. Decided to update earlier than I planned, since I'm going out with my mom and brother for the weekend, and won't be back until Sunday night. So here's the next chapter. Also, I'm only going to say this one more time for the people bitching about me making 'mistakes' and whatever-THIS. IS. A. FANFIC. A fanfic I started writing BEFORE the fourth game came out. Of COURSE everything isn't going to be the same-it isn't supposed to be! I have my own ideas, and I'd thank you not to tell me how to write my own story! *Sighs* Well, I hope you guys enjoy this chappie-though fair warning, you'll get some feels at the end. You've been warned._

**Disclaimer**: _If I owned FNAF, this is probably how it would've been from the start._

Once again, Ian had to save my life. He zipped over and knocked Golden Freddy off me with his hook. I could've sworn I heard a low growl in his throat as he said

"**_Get away from Mike._**" I looked up at him in surprise. He actually sounded…vicious. Before I could say anything, however, Golden Freddy raised his paw in a gesture of surrender.

"Wait! I'm not going to hurt you!" Both mine and Ian's mouths fell open at the same time.

"That voice…" I started. Me and Ian shared a look, then turned to the golden bear.

"_Phone Guy?!_" We chorused, and a sheepish look seemed to cross his (or was it Golden Freddy's?) face.

"Unfortunately." He tried to pull himself up from the floor where Ian had knocked him, only to stumble a little. Ian ran over to help support him, and I stood up, grabbing his other arm.

"Easy there." I said.

"Thanks." Phone Guy answered. "You should look out for the animatronics, though."

"Right…" I looked out both doors. The east one was clear, but Bonnie/Tricia was standing in the west one. I shut her out and checked the cameras. Chica/Hope was getting closer, and Freddy/Travis was just looking in the camera.

"You were able to go in Golden Freddy?" Ian asked Phone Guy.

"Yeah." He answered. "I wasn't ready to leave just yet…not when I had a pregnant wife to go home to."

My head shot towards him.

"Oh man. Phone Guy…"

"Call me Sal. Sal Cawthon."

"Sal…I'm so sorry." I said sympathetically.

"No, _I'm_ sorry." He looked at Ian. "Sorry I didn't trust you. I might've lasted longer if I had."

"It's okay." Ian told him. "I mean, I'm pretty scary-looking…"

"Yeah, but you tried to warn me about the others again and again, and I kept locking you out whenever you got close. Wasted a lot of my power." He chuckled sheepishly. "And now look at me."

"Wait a second…" I said. "So, if you're still here, then all the previous night guards who've died here, the ones who got stuffed into Freddy suits…"

"A couple of them stayed behind in the past, but I'm the only one recently." Sal answered. "That little girl inside Chica, what's her name? She told me." Ian's eyepatch flipped up in surprise.

"Hope?! She's talked to you?!"

"Yeah." Sal answered. "The night I died, in my last few seconds of life, she came up to me while I was in the Freddy suit and started crying, saying how sorry she was. Her eyes looked different-more like yours."

I walked over to open the door, and was relieved to see that Bonnie/Tricia was gone. Satisfied, I checked the cameras again. To my surprise, all of the animatronics were back on stage. I narrowed my eyes suspiciously.

_What's your angle, Melody?_

"Y'know, out of all of them, Hope has the most moments where she's back to being herself." Sal continued. "I've watched-sometimes when she's in the kitchen at night; she starts spazzing, banging pots and pans together. I was also there that one night where she was begging not to kill you." Ian's ears flattened against his head sadly.

"Poor Hope."

"Does Melody know you're in Goldie?" I asked curiously.

"I don't think so." Sal answered. "I've been able to keep an eye on everything that's been going on here-and I pretty much figured it all out." He looked back at Ian sadly. "You and your friends-you're good kids. I know you wouldn't hurt anyone if it was up to you. But that little girl…she's got a lot of anger and hatred stored up. I don't think she sees how much she's hurting all of you by making you hurt people." He sighed sadly, looking down at his body.

"Boy did I pick a poor body. I can barely move in this thing. And even if I could…well, I don't think Janice would want to see me like _this_."

"I think I can help you." I said before I could stop myself. "Free you, Ian, and the others, stop this whole nightmare once and for all."

What was I saying?! I had no freaking clue what I was doing. There I went again, thinking with my heart instead of my head. But at the moment…it seemed like the right thing to do. I looked seriously at the two souls trapped in animatronics.

"If I figure out how to break Melody's hold on the others, get all of them back to normal, then…" I just barely felt Sal's hand over my own.

"That's noble Mike, but it's just wishful thinking. You should've just left after your first night, when you saw what you were up against…to make sure that you didn't end up like me."

"Hey, I _tried_ to get him to leave!" Ian told him.

"There's got to be SOMETHING I can do." I insisted, pacing. I looked at Ian. "_You_ were able to get your sanity back, I can't believe that there's no way to save your friends."

"Yeah, but only by hurting Fritz!" Ian whimpered. "It's hopeless."

"Maybe not…" Sal said thoughtfully. "After all, Hope has moments where she's almost normal, like I said. She acts so kind sometimes…" My eyes widened as an idea came to me.

"Ian?"

"Yeah?" Ian answered, looking at me.

"Do…do you remember what happened when Melody made you do the bite? What was going through your mind?" Ian whimpered again, putting his hand and hook to his head.

"Mike, no…please don't make me think about it!"

"Mike-what are you thinking?" Sal asked me.

"Just...just work with me here." I said, trying to sound comforting. "What were you thinking? How did you feel?" Ian shook his head violently from side to side.

"Ian…"

"_I didn't want to!_" Ian finally answered, squeezing his eyes shut. "I just kept hearing Melody's voice in my head telling me to make Fritz shut up, over and over again…and I couldn't stop myself!" He sniffled, and his soul appeared above Foxy all of a sudden. "The next thing I knew, there was blood on my teeth, and everyone was pointing at screaming at me like I was some kind of monster! I was scared!"

"But you were back to normal, right?" I asked, trying to keep my voice level. Both Ian's soul and animatronic body opened their eyes.

"W-well, yeah." He choked out tearfully. "I was able to move on my own, and run into Pirates' Cove." Sal nodded.

"Your fear…Hope's kindness…I think I know what you're getting at, Mike."

"I don't!" Ian's soul faded as he looked between the two of us.

"Melody can control your minds, but not your strongest traits. The very thing that makes you human." I looked at him. "In this case, that may be a very literal case. Once your fear over hurting someone else completely took over, that broke Melody's hold on you. Basically, you got your humanity back. And Hope is able to fight Melody's control because of her naturally kind personality." I nodded, my eyes widening. "I think I get it now! If we can figure out how best to appeal to your friends' humanity…"

Ian screamed, and a half-second later I learned why. Bonnie/Tricia was back…and she'd grabbed me in a headlock. I grabbed her arm as she started to walk out with me into the hall.

No! I was so close! This time, I DIDN'T laugh as she started to drag me to my death. Before I could do anything else, however, I was aware of something large and yellow lunging towards us. Sal had lunged at the purple rabbit, and she screeched as she dropped me, trying to get him off her. Ian ran over and helped me up, both of us watching as Sal wrestled with Bonnie/Tricia. She grabbed his left arm and crushed it.

"NO!" Ian started to run forward, but Sal whipped his head around to look at him.

"Boys! Don't worry about me! Just get back inside the office! Run!"

"But…!"

"GO!" Sal insisted as Bonnie/Tricia kept tearing into him. "Figure out a way to stop this! Make sure that no one else has to suffer here ever again!"

"Sal!" Ian tried to reach out, but I grabbed his arm.

"Ian, come on!" Somehow, I was able to pull him into the office with me, and closed the door as Bonnie/Tricia finished tearing Sal apart. His soul materialized in front of the door, silvery like Ian's; with gray tear marks under his eyes. However, he was much older, appearing to be in his early to mid-twenties, with short curly hair, and wearing a night guard uniform, like me. Sal looked at me sadly, and before he faded completely, he mouthed two words to me:

_Save them._

Ian collapsed to the ground and started crying like he had the other night, his soul visible once again.

"I couldn't save him!" He sobbed. "He died _two times_, because of me! Because I couldn't do _anything_! He never got to meet his baby!" He just kept crying, and before I could stop myself, I hugged him.

Both Foxy and Ian looked down at me.

"M-Mike?"

"I'm sorry." I said quietly. "Ian, I'm sorry for everything you've had to go through." He sniffed a little more before hugging me back, and the stink suddenly hit me. Blood. Death. His own corpse rotting away in that robotic shell. My hands clenched into fists.

**_Evil. This place is EVIL._**__I was suddenly filled with anger, as well as determination.

Sal's sacrifice wouldn't be in vain. Now that I knew how to save the kids, I wouldn't waste any time. I _was_ going to save them…and once I was done, Freddy Fazbear's was going up in smoke.

"Ian?"

"Yeah?" He answered, his soul fading.

"Tell me about your friends."

**A/N**: _I got the idea for my Phone Guy's name from two places. The first part of his name comes from an old classmate of mine from my first college, Salvatore (Sal) Maroni. And as for the second part...well, you can probably guess. I couldn't resist XD And what he said about some of the other guards being possessed by animatronics-well, how do you think the Toys moved on their own? Let's just say that Mangle didn't JUST get torn up that badly because of the kids visiting Freddy's..._

_Well, now Mike knows how to save the kids! Maybe. I will tell you guys one thing though-pretty soon one of the other kids is going to be freed, though probably not the one you expect. Who will it be? Will Mike be able to save all the kids? And what about Melody? Stay tuned, and as always-review!_


	17. Me and my Dad

**Disclaimer**: _All I own are Mike's parents, Summer, and a couple other secondary characters_

**A/N: If any of my readers were unfortunate enough to grow up in abusive households, I apologize in advance if this chapter brings up any bad memories.**

I was woken up at 12:23 in the afternoon by the ringing of my bedside phone. I reached out with my left hand to answer, putting the phone to my ear.

"Hello?" I asked

"Hey, Mike?" My eyes widened a little at the voice.

"Summer?" I asked. "How did you get my number?"

"Fritz gave it to me." She answered. "She said she thought you needed to talk to humans more." I could hear the concern in her voice as she asked

"Mike, what does that mean? Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, I'm good." _Saw a guy get torn apart last night, but I'm fine._

"Well, I've been talking to our teachers." Summer said. "About the possibility of you coming back next semester. I wanted to see if they'd give you another chance."

"Uh…why?" I asked, trying not to sound ungrateful.

"Well, to tell you the truth…" Summer paused. "I like you, Mike. I know we didn't talk much, but I liked being in class with you, hearing your jokes and seeing the way you never took any crud from anyone…"

"Did Fritz put you up to this?" I asked, cutting her off. I wasn't used to girls liking me. Like, actually _liking_ me.

"No Mike, I'm being serious!" I could hear the laughter in her voice. For a goth, she sure was chipper. "Besides, don't you remember how during the job fair, you said you wanted to be a pediatrician? To help kids?"

"…yeah."

"Well, you need a degree to do that, right? To become a licensed doctor? I think you should give the college thing a second shot. If not for me, then for the sick kids you'll help in the future."

"You make a good point, Miss Ling." I said, turning over onto my back.

"I'm not going to push you, but you should still give it some thought." Summer continued. "We don't want you to waste your talents now."

"I already have one mom, Summer." I deadpanned. "I don't need a second one." More laughter.

"I'll see you around, Mikey." A click, and the line went dead.

"Mikey..." I said out loud. "No one has called me that since I was ten."

* * *

As I showered and dressed, I thought about the information Ian had given me last night concerning his friends. Hope's defining trait was her kindness-her generous nature, and bright smile, and the way her eyes lit up when she got excited…I'm not really sure, but I guessed that he had a little crush on her. Or at least he had, before she became a chicken robot.

Then there was Tricia. As the leader of their little group, she was brave and confident, a total tomboy through and through. Whenever they were playing games or exploring, she'd always go right on ahead, a determined look on her face. I supposed that's why she was the first one to move when I started working the night shift. Follow the leader. The scary-as-hell purple bunny leader.

Finally, Travis was a cocky show-off. He was only two minutes younger than Tricia, but he had a serious little brother complex. He always had to try and show her up-and everyone else, as well. Heck, if someone got a scab on their knee, Travis would intentionally try and go get a bigger one, just so he could show that off. Also, he sometimes teased Ian just to prove how 'manly' he was compared to him. I had to stop myself from chuckling as I remembered the things Ian said about him. I could now add 'Foxy pouting' to the list of things I never thought I'd see. Kind of weird that Freddy would be the last to move given Travis' show-offy attitude, but then again, as I had to remind myself, he didn't _really_ want to kill me. None of them did. If only I could cut the strings Melody had them on-and now I had a pretty good idea how to do it…

"Shutting down?! What do you MEAN we're shutting down?!" I stopped pulling my shirt on halfway as I heard my dad's yells.

"Bankrupt?! NO!" I slowly, carefully, pulled my shirt on the rest of the way. I got the feeling it would be best to avoid the old man for a while…

I'd just grabbed the brush to try and tame my hair, when the inevitable happened.

"Mike! Get your ass down here!" I put the brush aside, trying to stop my hands from shaking. I'd hoped that the call would've lasted a bit longer, so I could finish getting dressed and sneak out before he noticed. Looked like that was out of the question, though. I stepped out of the bathroom and walked downstairs swiftly, but cautiously.

My dad was sitting in the big armchair, his black hair askew, his right hand covering his eyes. Next to him, the phone was off its cradle. I opened my mouth to try to say something, but he beat me to it.

"Twenty years, Mike. That's how long I've been at this job. Twenty. Years. It wasn't the best job in the world, but it put bread on the table. And now…" He sighed, and I stared at him.

"I'm sorry, Dad." I said quietly. "But I-I've got somewhere to go now, I have to…"

"_You're not going anywhere._" My dad finally moved his hand from his face. His brown eyes were bloodshot as he glared at me. "Mike, do you know what _else_ today is?"

My heart stopped.

Oh crap. I'd forgotten.

_Should've been faster. _I chided myself. _Should've gotten out while I could… _With _**that**_, and my dad getting sacked, I just knew he'd use me as a verbal, and possibly physical, punching bag.

He let out a humorless chuckle.

"We were so young, your mother and I. In our senior year of highschool, me with a promising football scholarship and her the captain of debate team. It was only one night. That was all it was supposed to be."

A lump formed in my throat.

"How was I supposed to know that she'd just finished her period? How was I supposed to know that I was her first? How was I supposed to know that her dad had a shotgun-and that he'd threaten me with it if I didn't marry her?" He shook his head.

"I actually _had_ a girlfriend, y'know. She was so beautiful. And all my friends on the football team. I haven't heard from them in years. They must've had such great lives after graduation. And me…I don't even have a job anymore."

With every word he said, I felt colder and colder. I'd heard this story before countless times-the story of how I ruined Dad's life just by being born. At this point, I was pretty much numb to it.

But Dad wasn't done yet.

"And what's my son doing with his life? Working at a crappy pizza place watching a bunch of cheesy robots all night long. It really speaks volumes when you've failed so much that even your damn _kid _is a useless screw-up."

Suddenly, something inside me snapped.

"_Shut. Up_."

His head shot up, his eyes slowly starting to fill with anger. I had no idea what came over me. The words came out before I had a chance to stop myself. Balling my hands into fists, I gave my dad a cold, steely look.

"Nineteen years is long enough, Dad." I told him, my voice deathly quiet. "My whole LIFE you've been telling me what a disappointment I am, how you regret that I was ever born. Well guess what-that wasn't my fault, it was _yours_."

I glared at him, hoping I looked braver than I felt.

"And for the record, I happen to like my job. At least I got it on my own." I narrowed my eyes at him. "I didn't have to beg like a dog so my father-in-law would take me on. And even if I _didn't_ finish college, I..."

"You think you're better than me, you _bastard_?!" My dad was on his feet now, his eyes like two fireballs. All my confidence from before faded.

"No, no wait. Dad..."

POW.

I went stumbling against the wall, my hand flying to my left eye, where he'd hit me. Before I could collect my senses, he grabbed a handful of my hair, wheeling me back over so he could yell in my face.

"YOU THINK YOU'RE SOMETHING SPECIAL?! YOU THINK YOU'RE SOMEONE?!" He shook me roughly, and I felt a few hairs part from my scalp. "WELL YOU'RE NOTHING, YOU HEAR ME?! _NOTHING!_" He threw me roughly to the ground, then kicked me in the stomach.

"Dad…!" I choked out again, finding it difficult to breathe.

"Me, hell, _I _could've been someone if it wasn't for you! _I_ could've finished school, _I_ could've married the girl of my dreams, _I_ could've gotten a great job if you'd never been born! My life would've gone a hell of a lot better if only your mother had _**aborted you like I told her to!**_" With every pause, he kicked me again and again, and my eyes filled with tears I thought I was no longer capable of producing.

"_Dad!_"

"But no." He was no longer shouting or kicking me, though he was still looking at me like I was something nasty he'd stepped in. (Which, in his mind, I probably was) "Now I'm stuck with _you_. The biggest mistake I ever made."

I scrambled to pull myself up and stumbled back upstairs to my room, not able to stop myself from crying the whole way up. It _wasn't_ a pretty picture-me sobbing grossly like that. I was just grateful that Mom wasn't home. Or Fritz…she didn't even know about this.

I flung my bedroom door open and flopped onto my bed, hugging my pillow close to me.

Stupid.

That's all I was. Stupid and pathetic for letting my father have so much power over me, to the point that I was STILL afraid of him when I was _nineteen years old_. I'd let him tell me so many bad things about myself, yell at me, hit me, and the only person I'd told wasn't even alive anymore. I was broken beyond repair, a damaged shell of a person, and it was my own fault. Because abusive and manipulative or not, he was still my father, and he had power over me. With no one to see me, I buried my head in the pillow, shaking with sobs of anger and grief.

_Why should I be afraid of a few possessed animatronics?_ I thought bitterly. _The worst monster of all is always waiting for me at home._

**A/N**_: Yeah, that was upsetting. Sorry about that. Well, now you know the whole reason Mike turned out the way he did. Don't worry though, he'll get his comeuppance-though I'm afraid that won't be for a little while. Also, I'm afraid this might be the last update for a little while, since I go back to college next week, and I have to focus on getting ready-as well as other stuff._

_Anyway, Mike still has to focus on saving the kids first. Though if enough people like, I can write a 'bonus chapter' or whatever where you can come up with all sorts of creative ways to torture Victor Schmidt :) I shall require reviews first, though. Do it. Please?_


	18. Fighting the Voices in my Head

**A/N**: _Well, here I am again, guys! I'm back at college-and I MIGHT have a very tight schedule. Though the good news is, I'm almost done with my other fanfic, Rewritten Pastas, so I'll be able to work on Poor Little Souls more. And I'm going to TRY to start updating at least twice a week-no promises though. Also, I'm going to take a page out of Elhini Prime's book and write a couple short stories to go with this. Mine are just going to be oneshots, though._

_One of the other kids gets free in this chapter! Though who it is might surprise you..._

**Disclaimer**: _Five Nights at Freddy's belongs to the genius that is Scott Cawthon, and I am but a lowly insignificant worm that is a fan._

Up until I was ten, my worst nightmare was the one where I showed up to school in my underwear. Yes it was stupid, but at least it was one I could wake up from.

Then came my tenth birthday. What was _supposed _to be the happiest day of my life turned into a day of blood and screaming. I'd seen my friends, then my own _twin_ killed before the same thing happened to me. And when I woke up, I was in Freddy. Not to mention I had an evil puppet making me go out and kill people-even after our killer left. She didn't care if the new night watchmen (and women) were innocent people, in her mind they were all the same. They were all just as bad as the 'purple man'.

Friendly singing robot animal by day, killer bear at night. This was a nightmare I've had to go through every night since 1983-one I _couldn't _wake up from. Ever.

I looked right at the cameras, sure that that 'Mike' guy was wetting himself in fear. Why did he keep coming back?! I almost killed him on his third night here!

_Go! _I heard Melody's voice say in my-or was it Freddy's? head. _The cameras moved._

_**No! Stop! I don't want to! NO!**_

But I started moving on my own.

This was a nightmare! I just wanted to stop…to break down, to rust-anything! Because I wasn't human anymore. I couldn't die _again_.

As I got closer to the office, I heard shouting.

"…your dad! He shouldn't do that to you!" I actually froze for a second.

Ian.

Out of all of us, that little scaredy-cat had been the only one who was able to get free, to go against Melody. And now he was protecting the night guards from US. His own friends.

In the end, it turns out that he was actually braver than the rest of us.

"Try telling him that. The man has no idea how to be a father."

This voice was older and lower. I guessed it was Mike.

"You should get out!" Ian sounded almost hysterical. "You're old enough to live on your own; you can't just let him keep hurting you!"

I suddenly found myself thinking back to my own dad. His warm, friendly eyes, his happy laugh, and his nickname for me-bear cub. Fitting.

_**Daddy! Mama! I want to go home!**_

I wanted to cry as I thought of my home and family. I couldn't go back. And even if I did, I didn't think they'd want to see me like _this_.

_Why are you just standing there?! _Melody asked. _Get him!_

I started moving forward again, and as I got closer, Mike and Ian stopped talking.

_**Please, just get out!**_ I thought. _**I can't hold her off! I can't stop her!**_

Suddenly, Mike stepped outside.

_**Run!**_

But Mike stayed put. He just stared right at me-and I couldn't help noticing that he had a black eye.

"Mike?!" Ian stepped outside, his eyepatch flipping up in fear and surprise.

_**RUN!**_ I started to move, but Mike didn't move.

"Wait, Travis."

Travis?!

My surprise actually caused me to stop, ignoring Melody's voice.

"That's right." Mike didn't even blink. "I know who you are. And I know you don't really want to do this. It's all Melody using you-and the others, as her puppets."

_He's lying! _Melody said in my head. _I'm trying to help you!_

"Ian was able to break her control." Mike continued. "Ian. The crybaby." Ian glared at Mike.

"Hey!"

"Sorry kid, just go with it." Mike whispered out of the side of his mouth, his eyes never leaving me.

_Don't listen to him! He's LYING! He's just like the man who killed us!_

My head felt fuzzy. I lifted my paws…and saw Chica/Hope coming behind Mike and Ian.

"Why don't you show me how great you are, Travis?" Mike finished. "Show me you can beat her."

I thought about everyone I'd killed in the past, how scared they'd all looked as I grabbed them, dragging them away to their doom. This guy was different. He wasn't afraid of me. He was talking to me like I was still human-and he was right.

I'd never let anyone boss me around when I was alive, why should I now?!

I _wasn't _a mindless killing machine.

I _could _do this. I could beat her.

I wasn't going to be Melody's puppet anymore.

Suddenly, I felt…different. Lighter. Yes I was still in a big clunky animatronic, but I felt like a huge weight had been lifted from my soul. Ian seemed to notice, because he gasped happily and said

"Mike, his eyes!"

I didn't waste any time. I grabbed Mike and Ian and pushed them into the office as Chica/Hope tried to grab Mike. He gave me a confused look, but when he saw Chica/Hope he understood, and the door went down. The chicken robot looked at me for a few seconds, then left.

After a few seconds, Mike opened the door, letting out a breath.

"That was close." He looked up at me gratefully. "Thanks for the help, Travis." I tilted my hat.

"It's Tricia, actually. Travis is my brother." Mike's eyes widened.

"Wait, _you're_ the girl? That's ironic."

"I had a feeling." Ian said, coming out from behind him. "When we were alive, Freddy was Tricia's favorite animatronic, and Bonnie was Travis'."

"And you didn't tell me this before why?"

"That really you in there, Ian?" I asked.

"Yeah…it's me." Ian said sadly.

I flinched.

"This is really weird…"

"You're telling me." Mike started. "I'm hearing Freddy Fazbear talk in a little girl's voice."

"Not that!" I snapped. "Being able to think for myself again after so long-and just…_everything_." Ian walked outside, putting his good hand on my shoulder.

"I know. It was the same way for me the first night. You'll get used to it, Tricia." He smiled big, showing off all of Foxy's sharp teeth.

"See, Ian?" Mike asked. "We've got ONE of your friends back. And now I should check the cameras to make sure the others don't come get me." He went back to sitting in his chair, and Ian asked me

"Wanna help?"

"Help? Like how?"

"Helping me watch the doors." Ian answered. "And if Travis or Hope gets close, we warn Mike." I put my paws up.

"Alright-but this is still weird." Ian went inside so he could watch the east door.

"Hey Mike? How did you know that would work?"

"I didn't."

"What?!" Ian said. "She could've killed you!" For some reason, this caused him to start giggling.

"I know!" I shuddered.

"Weirdo."

"I heard that, bear girl."

* * *

The rest of the night was pretty quiet. At some point, Mike told me his plan to save us. It would have sounded crazy-except that it worked on me. I guess it was worth a shot? I sighed. Whatever. I was in now. And it was because of Mike's crazy plan that I was back to normal, so I felt I owed him. Around 5:55, Travis came walking to the office, and I gasped as I saw him walking towards me like a zombie in that creepy purple rabbit.

"Travis?" I asked quietly. "Is that really you?"

"I see him." Mike said quietly. "You want I should try talking to him like I did with you?"

_You won't get the chance._ Melody's voice whispered in the halls. Suddenly, Travis was wrapped in shadows and disappeared, reappearing in Mike's office. He nearly fell out of his chair as Travis screeched at him.

"No!" I hurried in as fast as I could. "Travis!"

Then the clock struck six. The shadow rabbit thing turned its head slowly to look at me before disappearing.

"That was WAY too close." Mike said, standing up and straightening his hat. I must've looked sad, because Mike said

"Next time. We'll have to be better prepared next time."

"Yeah…" I said. "Next time." I still couldn't stop thinking about my situation, and what my brother had turned into. Ian walked in and looked at me in surprise.

"Tricia?" I just ignored him and walked off, back to the stage, barely noticing the slight silvery shine on my fur. I may have been back to normal now, but the place was going to open in a few and I had to be on the stage. Plus, I had a LOT on my mind. I definitely needed some alone time…

**A/N**: _Yes, Tricia was the one in Freddy all along XD Though you probably knew that already if you paid attention to the cover image. Just a quick note-even though Ian's soul becomes visible sometimes, Mike didn't tell him. And it's the same way with the other kids-so just now when Tricia's soul appeared outside Freddy, that was the first time he saw for himself._

_Y'know, I just noticed for the first time that I've gotten over a hundred reviews now! Thanks guys, that really means a lot to me :) Seriously, as a writer, some kind words from my readers, or even constructive criticism (so long as it's not people narcing on me for not keeping the events accurate to the game) mean a lot to me. So please send me more reviews, and keep being awesome. Thanks! :D_


	19. I Ruin Jeremy's Shirt

**Disclaimer**: _I own nothing but my own imagination._

"Let me see if I get this straight." Fritz raised an eyebrow at me, crossing her arms. "Freddy's a _girl_?"

"No caterpillar face, the soul inside of him is a girl." I snapped. Fritz glared at me as she covered her eyebrows, an angry blush crossing her face.

"Whatever! And now she's helping you like Fo-I mean, 'Ian', instead of trying to kill you?"

"Looks like it." I answered, sipping my grape juice.

It was the next day. I had decided to tell Fritz about the previous night after about five hours of sleep. Though between my insomnia and my excitement about what had happened last night, it was kind of hard.

I'd managed to help free one of the kids' souls! Against all odds, and sanity, I'd helped her to break free of Melody's control. Now, maybe with two possessed animatronics helping me, I'd be able to work on freeing the others, and find a way to get them all free of those robot bodies. I just felt so…_proud_. Like I'd done something right for once.

You know how when you try and make a drawing or cook something, and you surprise yourself when it turns out really, REALLY good? That's pretty much how I felt. And I _had _to tell someone. Fritz, as difficult as she could be, was still the only one who knew about my situation, so I waited around until after she got home from high school. Yes, I'd had to confront her in the garage while she was fixing her car, but it would have to do. She'd always been into mechanics, and once she got started on a machine, there was no tearing her away until she was done.

"So now what?" Fritz asked, wiping some grease from her forehead. "You going to talk the rest of them to normal?"

"Well, it worked on Tricia." I shrugged. Fritz sighed.

"You're going to get yourself killed, you know that?"

"No I'm not." I argued, sipping even more of my juice. "With both Ian and Tricia helping me now, I should be okay." Fritz put her wrench down, facepalming.

"I can't believe you can talk about this all so calmly."

"Well, no one ever accused me of being normal before." I reminded her. I started to walk off, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw Fritz's expression being replaced with a look of concern.

"Hey, Mike?" I turned slightly.

"Eh?" She shook her head.

"Forget it."

* * *

I went back inside…and saw a familiar figure sitting on the couch.

"Jeremy?"

"Oh, Mike!" My mom looked at me. "Mr. Fitzgerald came looking for you."

"What are you doing here?" I asked, probably a bit too bluntly.

"Mike!" My mom said, but Jeremy just smiled.

"It's alright, Mrs. Schmidt." He looked at me. "Just wanted to talk to you about a few things. Work stuff." My eyes opened a little, and I nodded.

"Right…"

"Could we step outside?" He asked me.

"Yeah, sure." I answered nonchalantly. Jeremy stood up, and I followed him outside. We went onto the porch, and Jeremy looked around to make sure that nobody was watching before turning to me.

"Mike…" He started, "I'm afraid that I haven't been completely honest with you."

I felt my heart skip a beat. Did he know about Ian? Did he know something about the other kids? I forced myself to remain calm as Jeremy reached into his shirt pocket, pulling out a photograph, which he handed to me. I took the picture, studying it carefully.

It was of a little boy, maybe about six, with brown hair and big gray eyes. He was smiling and waving happily at the camera.

"You know about the Bite of '87, right?" Jeremy's tone was somber as he looked at me.

"Only too well." I answered just as somberly. It took all of my willpower to not automatically look at Fritz, who was just finishing up her car.

"That wasn't the first time one of the animatronics hurt a kid." Jeremy said. "1983, Daniel Fitzgerald. My son." My eyes shot up towards him.

"Your…"

"This was when it was still Fredbear's Family Diner." Jeremy said. "The only animatronics were Golden Freddy, or Fredbear and Spring Bonnie. Danny hated those things. They scared him." There was a faraway look in his eyes as he spoke.

"My other son, Xavier, teased him about it. He loved scaring his little brother, particularly when they started work on the other animatronics. He'd wear a Foxy mask and pop out from behind the sofa to scare Danny. I tried to make him stop, told him to stop scaring his little brother, but he got a real kick out of seeing Danny cry." He sighed. "But then one day, Xavier and his friends took things too far.

"I'd just been hired as a guard. Money was tight, and I needed to make ends meet. I didn't even know what Xavier and his friends were planning to do to poor Danny."

"What…what did they do?" I asked, dreading the answer. Jeremy buried his hands in his face, letting out another deep sigh. About three seconds passed, and I was about to ask if he was okay, but Jeremy seemed to come back to himself.

"I heard Danny's screams, and ran out just in time to see Xavier and the others putting him in Fredbear's mouth." Jeremy's breath came out in shaky gasps. "And then Fredbear's jaws came down as he started to sing...crushing Danny's head."

I couldn't speak for about five seconds. I was paralyzed with shock. My sister had gotten her head bitten and that still traumatized me to this day, but I'd only gotten there after the bite actually happened. But Jeremy…he'd actually seen his own _child_ get hurt like that…

"My God." I said when I found my voice again. "Jeremy, that's terrible. I'm so sorry…" Jeremy looked up at me, and I noticed that his eyes were shining with unshed tears.

"He'd have been about your age by now, I think. Give or take a few years." I didn't know whether or not he was talking to me or to himself, but either way, it touched on feelings I didn't think I had anymore.

"Kids can be cruel, Mike." Jeremy said. "Yes, they can act like perfect angels to get their way, but when you're not looking…well; you might want to keep that in mind when you're around that friend of yours."

I promptly spat my grape juice onto Jeremy's shirt. I probably should've apologized, but I was too busy being shocked.

"Ian?!" I asked in surprise. "You _know_ about him?!"

"I keep in the loop." Jeremy said mysteriously. "I've heard a couple guards who were lucky enough to get out with their lives talking about how 'Foxy' was acting funny. And since you've made it this far…well, I figured you had to have some help. Or you're just supernaturally lucky." He raised an eyebrow, not seeming to notice or care about the purple stain that was spreading over his shirt. "Ian, huh?"

My heart started to race. If he knew about Ian, what else did he know?!

"My advice to you-don't trust him." Jeremy said, taking the picture of Danny back from me. "He _is _still a vengeful spirit, after all. And…"

"You're_ wrong._" I said, cutting him off. "He doesn't want revenge. Heck, I'd probably be dead ten times over if I hadn't had him helping me. And…" I stopped myself before I accidentally gave away Tricia, too.

"Open your eyes, Mike. You think he's just some good kid?! He's killed before in the past, who's to say he won't snap again one day?"

"He doesn't do that anymore." I insisted, trying not to glare at him. "He just wants to get out, I know him well enough to know that…"

Finally, Jeremy lost his temper.

"GODDAMMIT MIKE, WHY WON'T YOU LISTEN TO ME?! HE'S A MONSTER, LIKE THE REST OF THEM!"

I actually started to lunge forward before my mom called out from the living room.

"What's going on?! Is everything alright out there?!"

"Everything's just fine." Jeremy answered. "I was just about to leave." He gave me a hard look.

"All I'm trying to do is help you. I'd advise you pick your friends a little more carefully, Mike. Ian may have been a kid once, but that was a long time ago." And with those final words, he left. I barely even noticed Fritz staring at us.

**A/N**: _Oh dear. Well, that just goes to show you, at Freddy's everything isn't always as it seems. What will happen now? Will Mike be able to save the other kids with Ian and Tricia's help? Oh and hey, I'm going to take a page out of Elhini Prime's book and write a couple oneshot short stories to go with this-might want to keep your eyes out for one which I'm going to be putting up soon. In it, Mike's dad gets his comeuppance, AND it contains an event that will be important later in this story._

_That's right, I found a way to make the events of the fourth game work with my story :) One thing about being a writer-you have to be flexible. One other thing about being a writer-reviews make us go faster. So could you guys press that little review button over there? Thanks :)_


	20. Ice Cream and Dreams

**A/N**: _If you haven't read 'One Night at Freddy's', I'd advise you read it before reading this chapter, for reasons_

**Disclaimer**: _I own nothing except a few minor characters_

"Miss Smith? Miss Smith? MISS SMITH!"

"Huh?" I looked up; blinking as I realized the teacher had been calling my name.

"Are you with us, Miss Smith?" Mrs. McNulty asked, putting her hands on her hips as she looked at me.

"Um, yeah Mrs. McNulty." She didn't look like she believed me, but she let it slide, turning back to the board and writing down some problems. I sighed, massaging my temples as I cursed myself for getting so caught up in the dreams.

The previous night, I'd had dreams about creepier versions of the animatronics _in my house_, coming after me in my own room. Those stupid things were ruining my life. First Mike goes to work at Freddy's, and to my knowledge had been almost killed at least once, _while I was there_, and then my dad comes back after voluntarily taking Mike's shift for one night talking about how they'd tried to get him. Of course, Mike had denied the whole thing.

My stupid, hard-headed brother. I still wasn't sure what to believe, but Mike really thought that the souls of dead children were trapped in those things, and he wasn't going to stop until he'd 'saved' them all.

Why did he have to be so infuriatingly noble?! I sighed.

Of course, I wasn't really scared-that was one side effect of _**not having a frontal lobe anymore.**_ But at the same time…I didn't want anything to happen to Mike.

* * *

"You okay?" It was a few hours later. Chad, sensing my distress, had taken me to an ice cream shop. It was unanimous-I was going to marry that man one day.

"I don't know." I sighed. "It's just…things have been so weird lately…"

"I know what you mean." Chad said. "I mean, with exams coming up and everything-soon we'll be halfway through the year, then we'll have finals, and graduation…" I looked up from my rocky road, staring at him.

Right. He didn't know. Even though Chad had driven me to Freddy's that one night, I decided not to tell him about what happened afterwards-ANY of it. I didn't want him to worry. At least _one_ of us could go on with a normal life.

"Hey, Chad?" I started. He started to lick his tutti frutti ice cream, then stopped himself.

"Yeah, sweetie?" he asked.

"Okay, totally hypothetical question;" I started. "Say someone you knew and cared about was doing something really, REALLY stupid and risky. Something that could get them hurt. But they still didn't…"

"Fritz," Chad started, "Is this about Mike?" I stared at him.

"Am I that obvious?" Chad just shrugged.

"It's obvious that you care about your brother. So why are you so hard on him all the time?" I sighed again.

"We used to be closer when we were kids. Until…something happened."

"I can't tell you exactly what to do." Chad said, putting his hand on my shoulder. "But if you're worried that something will happen to him, you should tell him before he hurts himself."

"I've TRIED! But he won't listen to me!" Chad flinched a little, and I sighed, immediately feeling bad for snapping at him.

"Sorry…" Chad pushed his glasses further up his nose.

"Well then-be there for him. Be with him." I stared straight ahead, no longer looking at Chad. He most likely didn't mean the same thing I was thinking, but that didn't stop the wheels that were starting to turn in my head.

"Chad;" I turned to him. "I love you. You know that?" He blushed a little.

"Well, I love you too hon, but why…?"

"I've got to get home." I said, standing up. "I've got some papers to fill out…"

**A/N**: _*Monotone* Fritz, no. Don't do anything stupid...well, she can't feel fear, it was inevitable. Short chapter is short. Whatever-I hope you guys liked it anyway. Leave me some reviews? (Sorry, I'm kinda drained right now) Good news though-now that I've finished Rewritten Pastas, I'm going to have more time to work on this, and I'm going to try updating at least twice a week from now on._


	21. Finding New Hope

**Disclaimer**: _If I owned FNAF, I'd be able to pay off my student loans -_-_

Things had gotten…_different _since Tricia broke out of Melody's control and started helping me and Mike. I didn't know if I liked it or not.

I mean yeah, I liked having one of my friends back, but she was acting really weird. She barely spoke to either of us except to say when the others were coming. It was really weird to see her this way when she had been so full of energy when we were alive. The first day we'd met back in kindergarten, she introduced herself and Travis right away, and asked if I wanted to play tag with them. I wanted to ask her what was wrong, but I decided that maybe that wasn't such a good idea.

"H-how are things at home?" I asked Mike, trying to make it so it wasn't so quiet.

"Okay." Mike answered, checking the screens. "Still no paradise, but it's better now."

"That's good." I tried to smile.

"Travis is coming." Tricia said without emotion. Mike sprang up and locked him out. When Tricia said he was gone, he opened the door again, and went to sit back down.

"So, I've been meaning to ask you guys a question." I looked at him in surprise.

"Yeah, Mike?"

"Do either of you remember what your killer looked like?" Mike asked. "I've been thinking, maybe if I can find him…" I felt a cold feeling go through my soul.

"I…I don't remember." I admitted. "I was the first one he k-killed." I looked down at the floor.

"I was the last one." Tricia cut in. "The whole thing was so fast…all I remember was that he was wearing a purple shirt."

"You don't remember anything else?" Mike asked.

"No, I DON'T!" Tricia snapped, going into the office and getting right up in his face.

"Tricia!" I gasped.

"…sorry." Mike said quietly. "You were scared. I shouldn't have asked."

Suddenly, the clock chimed. Mike sighed, standing up.

"Don't worry, guys. We'll figure this out."

I didn't know if he was trying to assure us, or himself.

Once I was sure Mike was gone, I glared at Tricia.

"Y-you didn't have to yell at him like that." I said. "He's trying to help us, you know."

"Whatever." She started down the hall, and I suddenly got angry.

"Hey!" I protested. "Wait a moment!" I reached out to try and stop her with my hook. She turned…just in time to get slashed along the left side of her mouth. My anger suddenly turned to fear as Tricia reached up to feel her new scar. She glared at me, and I started wondering if I could die TWICE.

"T-that was an accident."

"_Ian…_"

"AUGGGGHHHHH!" And like that, I took off down the hall, ducking around a corner. Tricia didn't even try to follow me.

"I wasn't even going to do anything!" She called after me. She then let out a sigh. "Wow, you haven't changed at all. You were a scaredy-cat when you were alive, and now that you're dead, you've turned into a scaredy-_fox_!"

"Have not!" I argued. "And even if I was, can you really blame me?! You already tried to tear me apart before!" Tricia started to open her mouth, then stopped herself.

"I've been ALONE in here for fifteen years!" I shouted before I could stop myself. "I'm alone during the day in Pirates' Cove, and until a few nights ago, I was alone at night and trying to protect the night guards from my own _friends_! My crazy, scary friends who hurt people and try to hurt me when I get in their way! All I want to do most of the time is cry, but I have to protect Mike! Because he's the only friend I've had for a long time, and I don't want what happened to the other night guards to happen to him!" I couldn't stop my voice from choking, as much as I wanted to. I saw a silvery glow on myself, meaning that my soul, the real me, was outside of Foxy.

"And even though he won't say anything, I know that inside Mike really _hates_ me for hurting his sister and ruining his life!" I sank down against the wall, hugging myself as I started to cry.

"I haven't seen my mom, my brother, or my sister in forever, Tricia." I said, my voice weak. "All I want is to go home. Except I can't even do that, because I'm _this_now!" I hugged myself tighter, still crying. But I couldn't even really CRY anymore, being in a robot.

"And you think it's been easy for me?"

"H-huh?" I looked up at Tricia. Her soul was outside Freddy. She looked mad, but also like she was about to cry too.

"My birthday, Ian. I was killed on my BIRTHDAY." Tricia clenched her hands into fists. "What was _supposed_to be the happiest day of my life! And I had to see my friends AND my twin brother killed in front of me first! How do you think it's been for _me_?! I just got back to normal, and now I'm helping some weird guy, my friend's Foxy, and…and…this whole thing is just really weird, okay?!" She sniffed, and my mouth fell open.

"I'm not even a _girl_ anymore! Not to mention my brother's still all mindless, and I have to protect Mike from him and Hope and…and I…_I want to go home too!_"

Both Freddy and Tricia sank to their knees and covered their faces with their hands, starting to cry. I don't know which surprised me more. And I don't know which of us went to hug the other one first. That probably looked really weird-Freddy Fazbear and Foxy crying. Except we _weren't_ Freddy and Foxy, not really. We were KIDS, and we were both trapped in this nightmare.

Suddenly, a pair of yellow arms wrapped around us. I froze.

"Don't cry. Please, don't cry anymore!"

_That wasn't Chica's voice._

Tricia and I both looked up at the same time.

"Hope?" Tricia asked. "Is that _really_you?" I remembered the last time I'd tried to talk to Hope, and for a moment I was scared. But when I looked up, the chicken's eyes were yellow, not black. And Hope's soul was outside of her. She looked like she was about to cry, seeing us so sad. But she smiled a little at Tricia's question, and nodded.

Before I knew what happened, I was standing up again, laughing uncontrollably as I hugged her.

"You're back! You're really back!" I laughed. Hope giggled a little herself and started to hug me back before Tricia joined in on the hug, almost knocking all of us to the floor. The next thing I knew, all three of us were laughing.

_Click._

Oh, right. The pizzeria was opening. I let go of the girls, all three of our souls disappearing.

"We should probably go now." Hope said in a quiet voice.

"Yeah." Tricia added. "Before he sees us." All three of us started down the hall, and I almost skipped.

Another one of my friends was back to normal! I had Hope back! Now we just needed to get Travis back to normal, and maybe then all four of us could find a way out of here once and for all.

For the first time ever, I didn't feel so lonely as I sat down by myself in Pirates' Cove.

**A/N**: _Another one of the kids is free! :D Now they just need to figure out how to get Travis back...don't get your hopes up, though. I can promise it won't be that easy...and things are going to get worse before they get better. But until then...how's about leaving me some reviews? Thank you :)_


	22. Three Kids and a Guard

**Disclaimer**: _I own nada._

That night as I went in to work, I had two surprises waiting for me. The first was Chica, or rather Hope, who was waiting with Ian and Tricia.

"Mike!" Ian grinned big at me, waving his hook. "Mike, guess what?!" I looked from him to Hope, who smiled a little at me. I knew immediately that she wasn't being controlled anymore, since her eyes were yellow like the others, instead of black.

"Hi." Hope said, waving a little. "You're Mike?"

"Yeah-and you're back to normal." I observed. "Nice to officially meet you, Hope." I put a hand to my forehead. "Wow-we've got another one back." I smiled at Ian. "See? I told you things were going to be okay." When I turned around, I got my next surprise as I saw the fresh scar on Tricia's face.

"What happened to you?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Um…long story." She answered, looking away. I went into the office and the kids/animatronics stood at the doors-Tricia at the west one and Ian and Hope at the east. I didn't really see the point now, since Bonnie/Travis was the only one we really had to look out for now, but then again, after Melody had been able to teleport the rabbit inside my office…well, better safe than sorry I guess. And having most of the dead children on my side now meant I was safer.

"Hey, Mike?" Hope asked.

"Yeah?" I answered, checking the cameras and seeing that Travis was already on his way.

"Sorry I tried to attack you that one night…" She looked away awkwardly.

"It wasn't your fault." I assured her. "Plus, I know you really didn't want to do it. You were fighting Melody's control while you were out there."

"Yeah…but still, I almost hurt you-and Ian." Ian put his good hand on her shoulder.

"It's okay. I can't get hurt, remember?" He smiled reassuringly at her, and I could see Hope smiling back. Tricia snorted a little.

"You guys make a weird couple, you know that?"

"We're not a couple!" Ian and Hope protested in embarrassment at the same time.

"Yeah right. Who would've thought-Foxy and Chica together?"

"It's no weirder than Freddy being a girl!" Hope countered.

"Knock it off, you two." I said calmly from my chair, seeing Bonnie/Travis in the Party Room. Tricia just laughed, and Ian stuck his head through the door, whining.

"Mike, make her stop teasing us!"

"Tricia, be nice." I answered-and then immediately sat back in my seat as a realization suddenly dawned on me.

"Holy cow. I've gone full circle."

"Huh?" Ian blinked at me in surprise. "What do you mean?"

"I used to be a babysitter." I told him. "When I was sixteen. I looked after other people's kids for ten bucks an hour. And now…" I let out a humorless laugh. "I've taken a 180 turn from night guard back to babysitter. Yeah, there's still a risk of me being killed, but…"

"Not to interrupt," Tricia started, "But…" She pointed down the hall, and I got the message, locking the door. For a few tense moments, there was silence.

"Okay, he's gone now." Tricia finally announced. I got up and opened the door again, and noticed the look on her face as she watched Bonnie/Travis walking down the hall.

"You okay?" I asked.

"I'll be fine." She sighed. I immediately knew she was lying.

"Tricia…"

"I'm going to go talk to him." She suddenly said with a determined look, clenching her paws into fists.

"You sure about that?" I asked. "It didn't work when we tried it the last time."

"When _you_ tried it." She corrected. "I'm his sister, maybe he'll listen to me! I can't stand seeing him like this, I have to do SOMETHING!"

"You sure that's a good idea?" Ian asked as he walked in behind me. "Back when all of you guys were brainwashed, I tried to talk to you a couple times, and almost got torn apart!"

"Yeah, but there were _three_ of us." Tricia said. "Besides, you're scrawny."

Ian almost fell over backwards anime-style.

"Tricia…" Hope warned. But she didn't listen.

"Travis!" She marched off, walking over to the purple bunny.

Before I could see how the scene was going to play out, the lights suddenly started flickering.

"What's going on?" Hope asked, scared.

"That happens sometimes." I explained. "But the last time it happened…"

Then it happened. The Golden Freddy suit appeared in front of us, full and undamaged.

"How's that possible?!" Ian asked. "We both saw Travis tear the suit apart when…"

Before I could question it myself, the lights flickered again, and when they went back, Goldie was standing RIGHT in front of me. For the second time ever, the golden bear grabbed me, lifting me up by the collar of my shirt. Just by looking into its eyes, I could tell that Sal wasn't in the suit. Neither was anyone else. It was…empty.

"_Mike!_" Ian and Hope chorused. The sight of them rushing forward to try and help me was the last thing I saw before Golden Freddy disappeared from the office, taking me with him.

**A/N**: _What? I DID warn you that things weren't going to be that easy, remember? I just wanted to have a short moment of the kids being, well...KIDS before things went down. Before you come after me with torches and pitchforks though, don't worry, I'm not going to kill Mike. I'm not THAT evil. However, he WILL get knocked around a bit. Your biggest question right now is probably 'How is the Golden Freddy suit fixed?' All shall be revealed in the next chapter-which will be out all the sooner the more reviews I get *hint hint*_

_PS-I'm sure by now that at least most of you have heard about FNAF World. Not sure how I feel about that...but hey, there's gonna be an FNAF movie so whatever :P_


	23. Meeting the Marionette

**Disclaimer**: _Roses are red, violets are blue. I don't own FNAF, and neither do you._

"_Mom? Mom, can I…" My mom scowled at me. _

"_Alright, how much money do you need?" _

"_Well, it's not money." I answered, looking down at the ground. "It's just that, there was this boy I met earlier. We talked for a little while, and he was telling me about how he went to school at a…" I didn't get much further before she moaned, putting a hand to her head._

"_Melody, Melody, Melody, I told you, I just don't have the money to send you to school right now." My mom sat down in her chair, reaching for a cigarette. _

"_When, then?!" I shouted before I could stop myself. "I'm twelve years old and don't know how to read or write! I don't have any friends, and I hardly even go anywhere! And for what?! So you can…"_

_In a second, my mom was out of her chair, holding her hand out. _

"_Don't you give me that tone, you ungrateful little…!" I pulled back, bracing myself for the slap, but suddenly my mom stopped herself. _

"_You're right." _

"_Huh?" I looked at her in surprise. _

"_This way we live…it's not fair to you. This is no life for a child." She pulled herself up, looking at me. "I'll tell you what…how about we go out for pizza?" My eyes widened as I looked at her hopefully._

"_At Fredbear's Diner?!" I asked hopefully. _

"_Yeah." Mom nodded. "Go get ready."_

"_Hold on." I started. "Why are you being so nice all of a sudden?"_

"_Consider it a way of saying I'm sorry." Mom started. "And a new start." She smiled at me. "This is a treat for you. Things are going to be different starting tonight, I promise you._

* * *

_I should've known better. I should've been more suspicious, asked more questions. After all, my mom NEVER did anything nice for me. _

_She'd abandoned me. My own mother had left me behind at this place, most likely so she could do another of her 'jobs', and I didn't even see her go. Tears filled my eyes as I thought back to all her previous threats. Whenever I'd gotten angry or upset with her in the past, Mom had threatened to leave me somewhere alone. I never actually thought she'd go through it, but now…_

_I stared back inside the Diner, at the singing animatronic figures. All the kids still inside were so happy, smiling and laughing with their moms and dads. Parents who actually loved them, actually wanted them. I didn't know what that was like. And I HATED it. Before I could stop myself, I started to cry, twin streams of tears flooding down my cheeks. _

"_Poor little girl." I turned my head slightly to look at the guy. The sun was shining in my eyes, so I couldn't see his face. All I could see was his purple shirt._

"_What are you doing out here all by yourself?" _

"_My mom left." I sniffled. "She just LEFT me here!" _

"_I'm sorry to hear that." The guy said. "Why don't you tell me where you live? I'll give you a ride back." I looked up, still trying to see his face. All I could see, however, was his smile as he held a hand out to me. "Trust me." He seemed friendly enough…but there was just something OFF about him._

"_No thank you." I tried to walk away…but he grabbed my arm and started to pull me towards his car._

"Get over here!_" _

"_Augh! Let me go!" I struggled to get out of his grip, but he wasn't letting go so easily._

"_Stop struggling!" At this point, he almost had me to his car. I kept squirming, trying to get free, and finally he seemed to have enough. He grabbed something out of his car…and the next thing I knew; sharp, cold metal pierced my chest. I gasped sharply, and the man seemed to realize what he'd done as soon as I had. He dropped me to the ground and started muttering to himself._

"_Crap. What do I do now?! I can't just leave her body here!" That was when it hit me. REALLY hit me. He'd stabbed me. I was going to die. _

No! I **can't** die! I'm just a kid! I can't…I won't!

_My vision started to fade as I tried to lift my head. _

I'm not going to die. Not before I make him pay. Him, AND my mom. And every other selfish, lying grown-up!

_The last thing I saw was a face in the window-a white face with a permanently smiling mouth and purple tear tracks under its eyes._

* * *

My eyes snapped open as I slowly came back to myself. It took a second for me to remember everything. Right-I was Mike Schmidt. Current night guard at Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. And…oh yeah, I'd just been captured by Golden Freddy.

"Look who's awake." I whipped around to see a little ghost girl sitting on top of the motionless Golden Freddy's head. She looked to be twelve, with slightly spiky chin-length hair and angry black eyes. Unlike Ian and the other kids, she was dark gray, almost black, instead of silver. I noticed she had a slight blush on her cheeks-like the puppet I'd seen. She was also pretty tall and thin, like _it_ had been.

"You're Melody?" I asked. She sneered at me.

"Yeah. And you're the guy who's been stealing my friends from me."

_Your friends?! If they were your friends, you wouldn't be brainwashing them to kill for you!_ I looked at the girl, who crossed her arms.

"Before I stuff you into a suit, I'm sure you have a few questions."

"Yeah." I answered, pulling myself up from the floor. "First of all, how is _he_ fixed?" I pointed at Golden Freddy. "Travis tore him apart the other night."

"You'd be surprised at what I can do."

"Like showing me how you died just now?"

"That's right." She sneered. "I had to suffer when I was alive and when I died, because of grown-ups, why shouldn't I return the favor?"

I was tempted to point out that I technically wasn't a grown-up yet, as I wasn't even out of my teens, but instead I said

"I don't blame you." Whatever she was expecting, it obviously wasn't that. Melody's eyes widened a little as she looked at me.

"What?"

"I can understand you're angry. Believe me, I've been hurt by adults too. Well, more specifically, _one _adult…"

"Why should I believe you?!" She spat, leaning over to glare at me.

"Because I'm trying to help you." I said, trying to stay calm. "That's the reason I've kept coming back night after night in spite of the danger. I want to help you and the others." I looked at her seriously.

"I can understand you're angry, but punishing every innocent person who comes to work here will only make you hurt more. Just believe in me, and I can help you and the others find peace, and move on." I held out my hand to her.

"Trust me." Melody's pupils shrunk, and I immediately realized my mistake.

"You're lying! You're lying! YOU'RE LYING!" Golden Freddy came alive again, letting out a shriek and starting towards me again. Never in my life had I moved faster than I did to get away from the golden bear. Soon enough, I had to move again as he lunged at me. I looked from Golden Freddy to Melody, and I noticed that tears, _real_ tears, _angry _tears were pouring down her cheeks.

"_I won't let you take them away from me!_"

"They never wanted any part of this!" I shouted back as I jumped out of the way. "Why do you think Ian's been trying to stop you all this time?! Why do you think him and now Tricia and Hope, have been helping me?! They don't want revenge; all they want is to move on!"

"SHUT UP!"

"Can't you see how much you're hurting them?!" Both Melody and Golden Freddy screamed, the combination of little girl and animatronic screeching hurting my ears. Before I knew what was happening, I was knocked to the ground again. I tried to blink stars out of my vision as Melody/Golden Freddy rounded on me.

Suddenly, a large brown shape came barreling out of the shadows and started grappling with Golden Freddy.

"Well?!" Tricia asked. "You gonna keep lyin' there, or are you going to get out of here?!" Before I could even think to answer, I was lifted up quick as a flash. The walls were a blur as I was carried back to the office. I didn't even need to look down.

"Ian, where's Hope?"

"Over here!" I turned to see the yellow animatronic chicken waving from the office entrance. Ian ran in with me and set me down in my chair.

"Are you alright?!" He asked, his face filled with concern.

"A bit dazed, but I'm okay." I answered. "What about Tricia?"

"I think she'll be okay." Hope said. "She's strong enough to handle herself in Freddy."

Sure enough, as soon as she'd said this, Tricia joined us, wiping the dust off her paws.

"That was fun." She said sarcastically. I stared straight ahead, thinking of what I'd seen before waking up.

_I understand everything now._

"Hello? Earth to night guard?" Tricia said.

"You sure you're okay, Mike?" Ian asked.

What could I say? Tonight was the closest I'd ever come to dying. Hell, I _would've _died if the kids hadn't come to save me. All because of a little girl who'd been abused by her parent. A little girl who knew nothing but misery almost all her life. A little girl who'd learned early on the cruelty adults were capable of and not to trust them.

A little girl…just like me.

**A/N**: _I'm pretty proud of this one :) It's the first time I've written in more than one POV per chapter. Now then, I'm sure you guys have a couple questions, so allow me to address a few here-Melody can't possess Golden Freddy, like she once possessed the Marionette, however, she CAN manipulate him-like putting him back together and using him, mostly making him appear in the night guard's office for a few seconds to scare them. However, if she gets angry enough, she CAN make him attack night guards, kind of like how she manipulates the other kids. Also, the reason she's dark gray instead of silver in this chapter is because as time goes on and she becomes more and more angry and vengeful, she comes to resemble the Marionette more and more. That was always my plan-in a sense, Melody is both the Marionette and Golden Freddy. Well, I hope you guys liked this. Now, be kind and leave me some reviews? Reviews make me write faster!_

_PS-What's with the people who want Mike dead?! You guys are bloodthirsty!_


	24. Mike Opens Up

**Disclaimer**: _I own zilch_

I sighed as I looked at the picture. I had been dusting, and suddenly stopped as I saw the old picture of Mike. He was about five in it, and he looked so…different. So much happier. He was grinning big, showing a braces-filled smile, and his hair was light brown instead of gray. His eyes were so full of life…the complete opposite of the young man currently sleeping upstairs. I let out a heavy sigh as I put the picture back down.

I think it goes without saying that every parent dreads their children's teenage years and wishes that they could just go back to when they were small and cute…but not every parent can say that it's their own fault their child got so broken. The best thing I ever did for Mike was fight to keep him when his father wanted to abort him.

We were young, Victor had said. We had our whole lives ahead of us, why let one stupid mistake ruin it? I remember how shocked and appalled I had been. Yes, neither of us had planned it-but it was still a human life! Our CHILD'S life! He used every line in the book to try and get me to change my mind, but I was adamant. Finally, Victor grudgingly accepted that my mind was made up. Our wedding was small-just my parents, a couple of friends, the priest, and us. Saying that it wasn't the wedding of my dreams would be an understatement. Then when Mike was born a few months later, Victor just glared at his son, _our baby_, like he was a piece of trash. I knew right then and there that this-US, it wasn't going to work. I was desperate enough to plead for us to try for a second child, but it was fruitless. I was trapped in a loveless marriage with two children I had no idea how to care for.

I was nineteen, Mike's age, when I heard Victor yelling at him for the first time. I remembered the reason too-Mike had accidentally spilled his apple juice on the floor. I remembered how shocked I was to hear him calling him a 'stupid little shit' to his face, and Mike's baby cries afterwards. I wanted to go in and tell him to stop…but I couldn't move. I'd never heard Victor that angry before…and it scared me. It only got worse from there. Whenever Victor had had a particularly bad day at work, or was in a bad mood otherwise, he'd take it out on poor Mike. The next time he'd been really angry at Mike was when he'd come home with a 'D' on his math test when he was seven.

"_Look at this!" _Victor had screamed. _"LOOK! What kind of __**idiot**__ can't do a few simple problems?! Do you go out of your way to look stupid?!"_

"_N-no, Dad!"_ Mike sniffed.

"_Stop your sniveling." _Victor had hissed. _"Men don't cry. Pathetic."_ I could practically hear the sneer in his voice, and it frightened me.

Then, of course, there was the incident on his tenth birthday. The first time his abuse had taken the shift from merely verbal and emotional to physical. We'd come home from the hospital after learning that they'd have to keep Fritz overnight. I was downstairs cleaning up…and then I'd heard the sound of conflict. A 'thud' came from above me, followed by Victor screaming at Mike about how he was a failure as a big brother, how he should've protected his sister and not left her to be attacked by that fox robot.

I knew it was a lie. While Victor never abused Fritz in any way, he hardly ever paid attention to her. _Mike_ was his target. _Mike _was the one who had ruined his life. Now he just had an excuse to hurt our son. But by that point, Mike was so shell-shocked by the trauma that he barely noticed. The years went by. As Mike grew older, I saw the life drain more and more from his eyes. He'd been battered, broken, become little more than an empty shell thanks to all the abuse that was heaped on him.

_And I did nothing._

"I'm a horrible mother." My eyes filled with tears as the realization fully sunk in. What kind of mother keeps on letting her child go through all of that without ONCE thinking to call the police, just because she's scared of her own husband?! I'd fought to keep Mike, why couldn't I stand up to his father again after he'd been born?!

"Mom, we still have spare light bulbs in the basement?" I froze at the voice. Slowly, slowly, I turned around, seeing him in front of me. My nineteen-year-old baby who'd long given up on life. He raised an eyebrow as he saw my tears.

"Mom?" Before I could stop myself, I flew to Mike, throwing my arms around him.

"Oh, Mike!" He didn't hug me back. I didn't expect him to. For a few moments, there was quiet, except the sound of my sobbing.

"Alright, I give up." Mike finally said. "Where are the hidden cameras?"

"Mike," I sobbed. "I'm sorry! I'm so, so, sorry!"

"You're sorry?" He narrowed his eyes at me.

"All these years…I should've left your father long ago. Taken you and your sister far, far, away, given you a better life…things could've been so different. You could've been happy." I let Mike go and looked at him. His eyes were as cold as his voice as he said

"Nineteen years and you apologize _now_?" I sobbed a little more.

"Mike…"

"Mom," he started, never raising his voice, "Do you know what I do at Freddy Fazbear's every night?"

"Y-you're the night guard?" I hiccoughed.

"That's my job title." He said. "Do you know what I _do_?" I shook my head, not understanding. Dread filled my stomach.

"I try and stay alive." Mike answered. "They come after me at nights. The animatronics. Until recently, all of them except one have been trying to get me, so they could stuff me in a suit. I could have _died_, over and over again. Night after night, I risk my life just by going in to work. I've actually come pretty close to dying a couple times-including last night."

I felt lightheaded.

"Mike…I don't understand…"

"It's different now." Mike continued. "I've been lucky enough to live long enough so that I've gotten most of them on my side, and now only Bonnie is still trying to kill me." He sighed. "Still though-it's jarring to think about. How many times I've almost died now. But you want to know something? Even if all of them were still trying to kill me, I'd keep going back." He leaned over, getting in my face so I could see his lifeless eyes. "Do you want to know why, Mom?"

"W-why?" I asked, feeling weak.

"Because facing killer robots every night STILL isn't as scary as coming home afterwards."

And with that, he walked off. I sunk down into a chair, thinking of everything he'd said.

The robots were trying to kill him? What was he talking about? Was this real? Was he trying to scare me? I couldn't blame him if he was. I let out a shaky breath, burying my face in my hands.

Whatever Mike was going through…I just hoped he'd be alright. He obviously didn't want my help; I could only hope it wasn't too late.

I just didn't know if it was for him to get out if things got too dangerous, or for one of us to save our little broken family.

**A/N**: _Yeah, that was depressing. Felt it was kind of necessary though-a chance to see things from Mike's mom's point of view. Welp, not much to say here except review, please._


	25. Messing with Foxy's Head

**Disclaimer**: _Last time I checked, I wasn't Scott Cawthon. So I don't own Five Nights at Freddy's._

_Ring! Ring!_

I picked up the phone as I sat at my desk, looking through some papers.

"Hello?" I asked.

"Hey boss. It's been a while." My blood ran cold at the sound of the voice.

"_You?! _How did…why are you…?!"

"We have a problem, Fazbirch." The voice on the other end of the line was angry. "A problem named Mike Schmidt. He's annoyingly hard to get rid of. AND he's got help."

"Help?" I blinked in surprise.

"One of those things has been helping him." My former employee said. "Good ol' Captain Foxy himself."

"F-Foxy?" I tried to keep my voice from shaking, to no avail.

"Yes." The other man's voice was calm. "Now then, here's what I want you to do. I left a little…present…for you out on your front porch. In a little while when you go to work, I want you to make a stop at Pirate's Cove. Put it in Foxy. If everything plays out as I'm expecting…"

"What are you planning, you madman?!" I spat. "What are you going to do to Foxy?! And to Schmidt?!"

"Me?" He laughed. "I'M not going to do anything-you are. Unless, of course, you want news to leak out about that little incident that happened in '83…"

"_That was an accident_." I growled. "There was nothing I could've…!"

"Stop making excuses!" He spat. I could practically see him glaring as he said "You know as well as I do that this has gone on long enough, Fazbirch."

"What do you want?" I asked, my voice choked. There was silence for a long time, then he answered

"The same thing I've always wanted. If you're still having trouble, well, just think of your little niece." My eyes widened.

Images of a little blonde girl with freckles and bright blue eyes went through my mind all of a sudden. Hope. My dear little Hope, whose parents had died in a car crash when she was only two, and who I'd raised almost like my own daughter.

"Alright." I answered, defeated. "I'll do it."

"I knew you would." I heard the smile in his voice. And with that, he hung up.

* * *

That was how, about fifteen minutes later, I was at Freddy Fazbear's, clutching the chip in my hand as I left my car, letting out a shaky breath at what I had to do. I was always the first to work, but still, better safe than sorry. I took the back door, going inside and walking around the stage, where Freddy and his friends were, and making my way to Pirates' Cove. I could feel my heart beating harder as I caught the sight of the purple curtains. I still remembered the day of the Bite. It had been a real shame to shut Pirates' Cove down, but after what happened, how could I not? All the same…these robots-they were like my children. Even now, it felt like I had put one of my children in a permanent time-out. But it was better than just destroying them. They were really all I had now, after losing my niece.

I clutched the chip tighter in my hands as I peeked inside Pirates' Cove. There was Foxy, sitting slumped against the wall, as always. But, wait. _No_.

There, right above him, was…no. It was _impossible_. Floating above him was a specter that looked almost like…like that Ian boy. Hope's friend, who she'd been really close to. I closed my eyes and shook my head. I must've been seeing things. I mean, I knew that he had disappeared along with Hope and those twins, but…

I opened my eyes. The spectral boy was gone. Gathering my courage, I walked up to the pirate and opened a hatch on the back of his head, putting the chip in. I had no idea what this thing was going to do to him, or what it meant for Schmidt. But that _maniac_ had me in a tight spot. I didn't have a choice. I sighed as I looked at Foxy and thought back to the little redhead, and how Hope had told me how Foxy was his favorite.

"Forgive me." I whispered before walking out, unsure who exactly I was talking to.

**A/N**: _Short chapter is short :P But still, it was an important. Now you know a couple things-like how Mr. Fazbirch is Hope's uncle, and that he's NOT the killer, but the real killer's got him on a short leash. You know what will make me write the next chapter faster? If you leave me some reviews. Thanks. _


	26. Hide-and-Seek Gone Wrong

**A/N**: _Good news-Travis FINALLY gets back to normal in this chapter. Bad news...well, you'll see..._

**Disclaimer**: _Okay guys, time for a personality quiz! Who owns Five Nights at Freddy's? a) you, b) me, c) Scott Cawthon, or d) a dog _

_Results: If you answered a) you're a dreamer, b) you're a nice dreamer, c) you're a realist, d) ...what?_

"Okay gang, here's the plan." I started as I walked in to work that night. "I have an idea on how to get Travis back, but…" I suddenly noticed the nervous looks on their faces. "…what's wrong?" I got my answer as the spare swivel seat spun around, revealing Fritz, decked out in the same blue jacket and hat as me.

"Hey, Mike." My mouth fell open.

"Fritz?! What are you doing here?" She scoffed at me.

"The same thing as you, stupid. Working."

"Even after what happened that night you broke in?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. "You were almost killed. We BOTH were."

"Exactly." Fritz said nonchalantly. "You face this every night, and I don't trust 'Ian' there with your safety." Ian whimpered a little, looking away, and Tricia put her hands on her hips.

"Yeah well, here's the thing, lady. We're not crazy anymore, so the only…" Fritz immediately burst out laughing, and Tricia looked offended.

"What's so funny?!" Fritz just kept laughing before turning to me.

"Oh man, Mike I thought you were pulling my leg, but now that I'm hearing this for myself…!" She howled with laughter again, slapping her knee. "The huge scary bear-with a sassy little girl's voice!" Tricia walked outside and crossed her arms, and Hope, who had been behind me in the hall, whispered

"Sorry Mike…but I don't think I like your sister."

"Least you didn't have to grow up with her." I let out a defeated sigh as I sat down in my chair.

On the one hand, since Bonnie/Travis was the only one we had to look out for now, there wasn't a lot to worry about. On the other hand…well, FRITZ was working with me. She already didn't like Ian, and after Tricia and Hope had tried to kill us when she broke in…to say that tonight was going to be awkward was an understatement. Even _if_ she thought Tricia's voice was hilarious.

"So…how did you do it?"

"Hmm?" I looked up from where I was watching Bonnie/Travis on the screen to look at Fritz.

"How did you get those two over to your side?"

"I talked to Tricia." I answered breezily. "Told her I knew she could fight Melody's hold on her. And, well, I guess she listened. Of course…that was when I still thought she was her brother…" This last part I said quietly, but Fritz heard anyway. She chortled and Tricia called from outside

"Yeah, laugh one more time! I dare you!"

"Stop it, you two!" Hope said.

"And the chicken?" Fritz asked.

"Here's the thing-I didn't do anything to get _her_ back." I informed Fritz. "I'd already left by the time she came back to normal."

"…it was because she saw us crying." Ian said quietly. "Me and Tricia. She came over to hug us, and…"

"Hold on!" Fritz held up her hands to motion for all of us to stop talking. "Pep talks and hugging got the two of you to stop being all kill-crazy?! What is this, the Care Bears?!"

"Well, _this _bear would care for you to shut up!" Tricia snapped.

"Tricia, be nice." I scolded her. "Fritz, listen to me. Every time the kids snapped back to normal, it was because their defining trait was touched upon. What makes them _human_. For Tricia it was her confidence, and for Hope, her kind nature."

"Alright, I'll humor you for now." Fritz looked at me, then at the cameras, where Bonnie/Travis was getting closer. "So how do we get the bunny over to our side?"

"Well, I've been led to believe that Travis is a show-off." I answered. "So I was thinking…we play a little game with him." Four voices said

"Huh?" as one.

"Game?!" Fritz demanded.

"What are you talking about?" Hope asked.

"Mike…what are you thinking?" Ian asked nervously. I looked at him, then at the two girls.

"You remember how you guys used to come after me?" I asked. "How about, for one night, you pretend like you're still out to get me?"

"What're you playing at, man?!" Tricia demanded, standing in the doorway, her arms crossed.

"Same thing I want to know!" Fritz said, shooting out of her chair and glaring down at me. "Have you completely lost your mind?!

"Hear me out." I held up my hands, trying to calm everyone down. "I assure you, there is a method to my madness. Ian, Tricia and Hope, one of you tell Travis that you're playing a game-who can get the night guards first. He's still in there-and he won't resist the urge to try and get me and Fritz first; to show off how awesome he is."

"Mike, are you insane?!" Fritz demanded. "He'll kill us!"

"No, he won't." I said. "I'm sure of it. And even IF things go south-we've got these three here to help us."

"Um, Mike?" Ian asked.

"It'll work." I told him. "I'm sure of…" I turned around-and suddenly saw his real reason for worrying. Bonnie/Travis was RIGHT at the door. In a second, Fritz was up, locking the rabbit out. I vaguely saw Ian's shadow moving on the wall, going over to Bonnie/Travis.

"What's he doing?" Fritz whispered to me.

"Yar, har, har!" came Foxy's voice. "Bonnie, I be glad yer here, lass! We be playin' a game with these yellowbellies!" I felt like a big, confident balloon was being inflated inside me.

"Freddy, Chica n' me be tryin' to catch them. Think ye be up fer a bit of…competition, lass?"

"Mike?" Fritz asked as I stood up and walked over to the window. I ignored her and peeked out. I could see Bonnie's eyes starting to flicker from black to yellow, showing that Travis was starting to wake up.

_Yes._ We were so close…

"Mike?" I turned around to see Tricia was behind me. "Open the door. Let me out."

"Sure." I opened the door, and she went out into the hall, along with Hope. Once they were out, Fritz and I listened as Tricia started talking in Freddy's deep, booming voice.

"Join us, Bonnie!" 'Freddy' said. "It'll be fun!" I dared to peek outside, where the other three were leading Bonnie back down the hall.

"Bet I can get to them before you!" 'Chica' beamed, before turning around to give me an 'ok' sign. The whole time, Bonnie/Travis' eyes kept glitching.

This was going to work. We were really going to get Travis over to our side. I went back inside, and Fritz glared at me.

"I still say this is a horrible idea."

"We'll be fine." I told her again, sitting down in my chair and looking at the cameras. "Like I told you, Travis is the only one who's still kill-crazy. And if this works, soon he'll be out of that."

"'If' being the key word here!" Fritz snapped. "I don't know about you Mike, but I don't look forward to dying by being stuffed into a robot bear suit!"

"It'll be _fine_." I said a third time, starting to get annoyed as I checked the cameras, seeing that Hope had started to move. "Have some faith in me, will you?" Fritz just shot me one last glare before looking at the cameras herself.

"I can't believe you trust those _things_ over your own flesh and blood."

That did it. It was MY turn to burst out laughing-and it wasn't out of fear.

"What's the joke?!" Fritz demanded.

"You are." I answered as coolly as I could. "You shout at me, snap at me, insult me, pretty much disown me in high school, and now you want to know why I trust them over you?" Smile still in place, I looked her in the eye. "Say what you like about Ian, blame him for ruining your life, but in the short time I've known him, he's treated me more like a big brother than you have in nine years."

Fritz's mouth fell open in shock.

"What?! Mike, that's…! That's not…!"

"Forget it." I wiped the smile from my face, going back to looking at the cameras. Bonnie/Travis had now moved as well. I flipped to Pirates' Cove. Ian caught me looking, and gave me his most piratish grin. If and when this thing worked out and we got Travis back, I wouldn't mind playing these games more often. Course, one of THEM could be the night guard, and I'd be one of the 'hunters'. I checked the tablet.

"We're not doing too bad." I said flatly. "86%." Fritz didn't say anything. I guess she was still shocked over what I'd said to her. I didn't say anything else, just went back to looking through the cameras. By now, Bonnie/Travis was in the party room.

Huh? That was strange. Usually she/he never went there. The rabbit's image started to glitch, and I caught her/his eyes flickering again. Yes, yes, _yes_. Travis was so determined to win this game.

_So close…we're almost there…_

I checked the cameras again. Ian had stepped off stage. Looking in East Hall, I noticed Tricia looking right into the camera, making a face. Real mature. Then again, she'd never gotten the chance to grow up…

"Chicken girl's in the party room with the bunny." Fritz said flatly.

"Hmm." I said before going back to looking at the other cameras. I looked back at Pirates' Cove…and saw Ian was gone. Despite the fact that I knew I wasn't in any danger, I couldn't stop a grin from crossing my face as I flashed back to my first couple nights here. A quick look into the west hall confirmed my suspicions-he was running right towards us. On reflex, I shot out of my chair and ran to shut him out, but of course he was faster. Before you could say 'shiver me timbers', he stuck his head in the door

"AUGGGGGGHHHHHH!" It was just a normal, little-boy scream, not the unearthly screeching I'd heard a couple times before, but it was no less jarring. I burst out laughing, clutching my stomach.

"Oh man! I almost had him!" Me, Ian, and Fritz turned around at the sound of the new voice. There, standing behind us, was Bonnie, or rather Travis, his hands on his hips, and his eyes yellow, showing that he was free now. My eyes widened a little.

It had worked. My plan to get Travis to normal had actually worked. Before I could even think of jumping for joy, or doing anything of the like, Tricia's voice called out

"TRAVIS!" Travis turned around, and in two seconds, was glomped by his sister.

"Ah! You're hugging me!"

"Of course I am, dummy!" She said, flicking his ear. Her annoyed look only lasted for a second, however, as she went back to hugging him tightly. Looked like I wasn't the only one with a sister who could drive him crazy. Though at least it looked like Tricia actually cared about her brother. Behind me, Fritz shook her head.

"Well, this has been the weirdest night I've ever had. Though at least now we know that there's nothing to worry about anymore." She unbuttoned her jacket, revealing a purple t-shirt.

Fritz didn't HAVE a purple shirt.

"Where did you get that?" I asked.

"This thing?" She answered tonelessly. "I just..."

"Ian?" Hope said. "What's wrong?!" I turned around…and my heart almost stopped. Ian had started twitching weirdly, looking like…well…like he was malfunctioning. He raised his hand and hook to his head, his gaze locked on my sister. A bad feeling suddenly settled in the pit of my stomach.

"Ian…"

Then, a second later, there it was. The ear-splitting, heart-stopping screech I'd grown accustomed to ripped from his throat, and the next thing I knew, he lunged forward, right at my sister.

**A/N**: _Yeah, I couldn't resist the urge to have Mike playing this game with the animatronics/kids, like in other FNAF fics I've read. But I had to add my own spin to it...you guys are probably gonna hate me after the next chapter..._

_As always, review!_


	27. I Bite off More than I Can Chew

**Disclaimer**: _All I own is a few secondary characters._

Everything was pretty much a blur after I got back to Mike's office. All I remember was Fritz taking off her jacket…and then she was gone. _He _was in her place. Images started flashing through my mind, and I was only faintly aware of Mike calling my name.

Suddenly, I was teleported back to Tricia and Travis' tenth birthday-to the day I was murdered. I screamed as the man who had been wearing the Golden Freddy suit reached out and grabbed me by the collar of my shirt, a large knife in his other hand.

"_IAN!" _Hope screamed. I squirmed in the man's grip, trying to get free.

"_No, NO!" _I begged, tears rolling down my face. _"Please, don't hurt me!"_

The next thing I knew, cold steel went through my stomach, a sharp gasp leaving me. I had been stabbed. All around me, my friends screamed again, and I could hear them trying to get out as the man tossed me roughly to the side. Hope screamed as the man caught her by her hair, shouting for her Uncle Franklin. She was in trouble, and I couldn't do anything to help her. I let out my final breath before everything went black.

I went back to the present, letting out a screech. _He_ was back. After what he'd done to us, how he'd hurt me, hurt Hope, hurt the twins…on their _birthday_, that man decided to show his face again.

I'd promised myself I wouldn't hurt anyone ever again…but this was different. I lunged at the killer…only for Tricia and Travis to hold me back, grabbing either of my arms. The Purple Man took the opportunity to escape, jumping out of his chair and running down the hall, Mike shouting after him.

"Ian, what are you doing?!" Tricia demanded as she continued to hold me back.

"What am _I _doing?! What are _you_ doing?! He's getting away!" That's what I WANTED to say. Instead, another screech came from my mouth and I whipped around, trying to get out from their grip.

"What's wrong with him?!" I heard Hope ask, concerned. "Ian, snap out of it!" The sound of her voice actually caused me to freeze for a second.

"Alright, let's get you cooled down, Ian." Travis said.

And like that, I was back to violently trying to escape.

"I'm trying to help you, you jerk! Let me GO!" Again, I could only screech like an animal. I probably should've been more worried…but at the moment, I didn't care. I wanted to get out-to get the Purple Guy, now that he was really there, that it was really him.

Whipping around, I snapped at Travis, and he let out a cry of surprise before letting go of me. After that, I just wiggled my other arm, the one with my good hand, out of Tricia's grasp, and bolted down the hall, where I saw a flash of purple disappearing around the corner.

_Get back here! I'm not done with you!_

Never in my unlife had I run faster than I did then, my determination speeding me up until I had caught up with the Purple Guy. I lunged at him, opened my mouth wide…and bit down. The Purple Guy's eyes widened in shock, and behind me I heard my friends scream. It took me five whole seconds to realize why. My vision cleared, and it was then that I saw that it wasn't the Purple Guy I had been chasing. It was Fritz. And _she_ wasn't the one I'd just attacked.

"AUGGGHHHHH!" Mike's pained scream split the air, and I gasped in horror, causing him to fall back onto the floor.

"_**Mike!**_" He lifted his right hand to his left shoulder to look at the blood coming from his injuries and I started to walk over to him. He actually backed _away_ from me, his eyes and mouth wide with horror. _Just like how he looked when he was ten..._

I reached up with my good hand, touching my teeth and gasping again as I brought my hand up to see blood. MIKE'S blood.

"No!" I shook my head, trying to make it all go away. "No, no no no, not again! Not again!"

"What have you _done_?!" Fritz glared at me in fury, and I couldn't stop myself from flinching.

"I didn't mean to!" I sniffed, looking back at Mike. "Mike!" He just kept looking at me with that horrified expression for a few seconds before his eyes rolled back in his head and closed.

"NO!"

"**GET AWAY FROM HIM!**" Fritz stepped in front of her brother, shielding him from us. From _me_. "All of you, get BACK!" She glared around at Tricia, Travis, and Hope before her gaze settled on me, and she said in a cold tone.

"_Jeremy was right about you!_"

That did it. I turned and ran down the hall, away from Mike, away from Fritz, away from the twins, even away from Hope as she shouted my name. I just kept running, and didn't stop until I reached Pirates' Cove, going inside the safety of the dark curtains. My hook glinted in the darkness. I looked at it…and Foxy's reflection looked back. I clenched my good hand into a fist as I suddenly realized that I didn't even remember what my _own _face looked like anymore.

"ARRRRGHHHHH!" With an angry cry, I jabbed my hook into the wood of the large prop pirate ship. I pulled it out and kept attacking the ship, again and again, letting out all of my anger at once.

I wasn't Ian Connors anymore, I finally realized. He'd been dead for thirteen years. I was Foxy-an animatronic, a robot, A KILLING machine! It didn't matter that I'd tried to be good and not hurt people anymore, I'd still taken their lives, like my own life had been taken from me a long time ago. I'd mutilated a little girl's head, damaged her forever…and now nine years later, I hurt her brother. My _friend_!

I stuck my hook into the ship one more time, the last of my anger fading as I thought back to the horrified look on Mike's face. The first friend I'd had for a long time, the first person to try and help me and my friends, to treat me like I was human…and I hurt him! The worst part was that he'd gotten hurt trying to protect his sister from me. To keep me from biting her _again_.

_Jeremy was right about you._

I didn't know who that was-and it didn't matter. It was obvious what Fritz thought of me. Not that I could blame her.

Before I could stop myself, I started crying. I couldn't even blame Melody for this one-I didn't hear her voice at all. I sank down against the ship as I kept crying, hugging my knees. I could see a faint silvery glow on my fur, which meant that my soul had appeared again. Like it mattered. I wasn't that little boy anymore. I wasn't even human. I hadn't been in a long time.

_I'm a monster._

**A/N**_: That was depressing to write. But TBH, I've been waiting to write this chapter for a long time. Now, before anyone asks, no, Mike is NOT dead. Only two other people are going to die in this story-and you can probably guess who one of them is. Now then, if you'll excuse me...*Goes to hide in a trench to shield myself from the angry/sad reviews I'm bound to get now*_


	28. Back to Square One

**A/N**: _*Pokes head out of hidey hole* Huh. Weird. I expected people to be tearing into me after that last chapter-not that I'm complaining. Though if I'm completely honest, I'm a bit disappointed that no one went to give Ian a hug. I mean c'mon, the poor kid needs it! Anyway, I have an announcement-after this chapter I'm going to take a short break from the main fic to work on a three-chapter side story. That doesn't mean I'm giving up on this though-quite the contrary. We're in the final stretch here, and I intend to see this story through to the end. Though I AM going to be evil and leave you guys with a cliffhanger...just because I CAN._

**Disclaimer**: _I'm not Scott Cawthon, and as such don't own the Five Nights at Freddy's games._

"Mom, Dad? I'm home!" I walked in through the door, my backpack slung over my shoulder. My mother beamed as I walked in, walking up to hug me.

"Mike! Oh, it's been so long…it's so good to see you again!" I giggled a bit embarrassedly as she kissed my cheek.

"Mom, it's only been a couple months!" I told her.

"Maybe so, but it'll be great to have you back for at least a little while!"

"I'll say." Fritz walked in, smiling at me. "It wouldn't be Christmas without you, big brother."

"Hope you guys have room for one more." I said. At that moment, Summer walked in, all smiles.

"Mike invited me over for the holidays. My parents are overseas, so it's just gonna be me."

"It's no problem at all!" My dad answered. "Any friend of Mike is welcome here-especially a pretty one like you." He beamed at me. "I'm so proud of you, son."

Suddenly, everything seemed to stop.

I was back in college? Fritz acknowledged me as her brother? I had a girlfriend? My dad was _proud_ of me? I looked in a mirror, and for a second my reflection looked like an older version of the brown-haired, bright-eyed boy I'd been as a kid before shifting to how I really looked-gray hair, dead eyes and all. My reflection opened its mouth and said

"_Wake up."_

* * *

My eyes snapped open, and the first thing I saw was blue. It took me about a second to realize that I was looking into Summer's eyes. She gasped in relief, her black-lipsticked mouth spreading wide in a smile.

"He's awake!"

"Huh?" My mom came over, her eyes red from crying.

"Oh, Mike!" She broke down. "When Fritz called us in the middle of the night and said you'd been hurt, and were in the hospital…I was so scared!"

"Wha…? Hospital?"

Suddenly, it all came back to me. I saw flashes of red, then silver, then white and yellow as the memories came flooding back to me. I started to reach up to grab my head…only to wince and pull my shoulder back as fresh pain shot through it.

"AGH!"

"Mike!"

"Easy there, young man." The doctor, a balding, middle-aged man of Asian descent said, walking over to me. "Your rotator cuff was torn, so you shouldn't try to stress your arm muscles for a little while."

"Right…" I said, looking at the bandages on my left shoulder. "How…how long have I been in here, Doc?"

"Almost 48 hours." He answered. "With the blood loss and shock you experienced…well, your sister was almost hysterical when she called for help." I blinked. Fritz? I looked over at her, and she pretended to be interested in a crack in the wall. The doctor continued.

"The good news is, you're alright now. Just try not to strain yourself like I said, okay?" I nodded.

"Alright, doc."

"Can…can I talk to him before we go, doctor? Alone?" my mom asked.

"Of course." With a single nod he, Summer, and Fritz left, Summer giving me a quick kiss on the forehead before walking out.

"Where's Dad?" I asked before Mom could talk.

"He's…busy." My mom answered, looking off to the side uncomfortably. "He found a new job, and…" I just snorted. That figured. Why WOULD my dad come and see his only son when he was in the hospital?

Mom gave me a serious look all of a sudden.

"We need to talk."

* * *

"You told Mom?" It was an hour later. Mom and Fritz had taken me back home…but not before Mom revealed that Fritz had told her everything.

"Yeah, what's the big deal?" Fritz asked, putting her hands on her hips. "I told her that Foxy went crazy and tried to attack me, and you got hurt trying to protect me from him. I didn't tell her about the dead kids or anything. It's not like she would've believed me. To be honest, I'm still having trouble believing that part myself." She looked off to the side, and I was quiet for a long time, thinking. After a while, Fritz broke the silence.

"Mr. Fazbirch fired me." I looked at her.

"What? Why?"

"After I called an ambulance for you, I got a rebar and tried to go after the animatronics…or kids, or whatever the hell they are."

"You tried to attack them?"

"Yeah, so?! One of them HURT you!"

Her expression softened as she sighed.

"Mike…I'm sorry. About everything. All those years…everything I did and said to you…I was such a brat." She raised her eyes to meet mine. "I know I don't show it much…or at all, but I really _do_ care about you. When Foxy, or Ian," she sighed, "_Whoever he was_ bit into you-and you passed out…I thought I was going to lose you." She took a handful of hair in her hand. "If you died…" I sighed and looked at her seriously.

"All I want…all I want is for you to treat me like a brother. For things to be the way they used to be between us. When we were close. Can we try and be like that again? Ten years is more than enough." Fritz looked at me.

"Okay. I'll try." She smiled a little. "Thanks for saving me, by the way."

"Sure."

"By the way, Mr. Fazbirch gave you the rest of the week off, got another guy to fill in your shift. If…if you still want to go back, that is." I sighed heavily.

"I don't know, Fritz. I just…I don't know what to do now." She scowled.

"I knew they were dangerous! You almost died because of your little 'friend'!"

Suddenly, I remembered something.

"Hey, y'know, you never answered my question." Fritz blinked at me.

"Huh?"

"Where'd you get that purple shirt?"

"This is going to sound kind of stupid…but I have no idea where it came from." Fritz admitted. "As I was about to head out for my first…my _only_ night of work, I just kind of found it folded on the doorstep. It came with this note." She handed a crumbled piece of paper to me, and I unfolded it, and started to read:

_Heard about your new gig. I would advise wearing this, for good luck. It really helped me when I worked at Freddy's back in '83. Don't worry, I made sure to wash it._

A purple shirt. 1983.

I started running over everything in my mind over and over again-and finally it all clicked.

"I'm an _idiot_."

"Mike?" Fritz stared at me as I shot up and started pacing.

"How did I not see it before? It was right in front of my face-I should've seen it sooner. And when I kept going back…he set you up. Set us BOTH up."

"Who?!" Fritz demanded.

"He needed us out of the way, so he left you the shirt and…"

"MIKE!" Fritz shouted. "_What _are you talking about?! _Who _needs us out of the way?!"

"The Purple Man." I answered, looking at her seriously. "The man who killed the kids. He was wearing a purple shirt when he did it." Fritz's eyes widened a little.

"So when Foxy saw me wearing that shirt…he thought I was him?"

"Looks like it." I said with a nod. "That bastard had this all planned out…ugh, I can't believe I'm just NOW getting it."

"What do you mean?" Fritz asked. "You know who this 'Purple Man' is?"

"Yeah." I said, staring out the window with a determined look on my face. "The one person with the most reason to want Freddy Fazbear's shut down for good."

* * *

Meanwhile, Mr. Fazbirch sighed miserably as he removed the chip from Foxy's head. He felt dirty inside-rotten. One of his employees had gotten hurt, and it was all his fault. He was drawn out of his miserable thoughts at the sound of the door opening.

"You did good, boss. Real good." Mr. Fazbirch glared at the other man.

"You underhanded, miserable…!" The man laughed in the doorway, the light obscuring his features.

"Hello pot, my name is kettle." He snickered a little more. "So…looks like you're in the market for a new night guard. I went ahead and updated my resume and everything." He tossed some papers to the ground, and Mr. Fazbirch looked from him to them.

"You and I both know you've got no choice but to hire me back." The man said with a sneer. "Schmidt's not coming back-not after what happened to him. I doubt he'd want to set one foot in Freddy's ever again." Mr. Fazbirch let out a defeated sigh, looking down at the ground.

"Alright. You win. You can start tonight."

"I'll be ready." The man looked around the restaurant, one final evil smirk crossing his features. "Ah, Freddy Fazbear's. It's been _far_ too long."

Jeremy Fitzgerald finally stepped inside the restaurant, wearing his favorite purple shirt and a sinister look.

"Time to finish what I started all those years ago…"

**A/N**: _Everyone who correctly guessed that Jeremy is the Purple Man, give yourselves a pat on the back. And now he's back at Freddy Fazbear's. The kids' murderer is back-what will happen to them now? You'll just have to wait and see. Until then, keep your eyes peeled for 'Adventures in Animatronic Sitting'. And, as always, leave me lots of reviews!_


	29. I Give Dad Some Travel Advice

**A/N**: _Here it is, guys! Oh, it's so good to get back to Poor Little Souls. Thanks for being so patient with me, guys, it really means a lot that you've stuck around this long. Now, I wanted to give a special shout-out to NedsEpicGamingQuest, at his request. This chapter is pretty short, and for that I apologize, but something important happens here. Also, we're in the final stretch, so it's good. (At least, I hope so) Well, without further ado, here it is!_

**Disclaimer**: _I own nothing, and never will._

Never in my life had I gotten dressed quicker than I did that night. I didn't even notice the pain in my shoulder as I pulled on a jacket and pants.

"You're sure about this, Mike?" Fritz asked.

"Positive." I answered. "Me getting hurt and you getting fired was just what Jeremy needed-now he's back. The kids are alone there with their murderer-who knows what he plans to do to them now…"

"Just stop and think about this for a second!" Fritz insisted. "What _can_ he do?! They're big robots!" I barely heard her. I turned the corner…only to run into my least favorite person in the world. Well, SECOND least favorite, after learning who Jeremy really was.

"And where do you think _you're_ going, young man?" Dad asked. For the second time, my mouth acted before my brain.

"Like you care."

"WHAT?!" Fritz and Dad said at the same time.

"You didn't even care enough to see me in the hospital when I got hurt." I glared up at Dad. "You were probably _hoping_ I'd die. That'd make your life a whole lot easier, having your little 'mistake' out of your way."

"Mike, what are you saying?!" Fritz demanded. "Where is this coming from?"

"Tell her, Dad." I said nastily. "Tell her what happened behind closed doors. How you punished me after _she_ got hurt, how you've been abusing me, physically, verbally, and emotionally, my whole life. How YOU, not Ian, are the reason I'm a basket case."

"Ian?" My dad blinked in surprise. "Who…never mind!" He glared at me. "What gives you the right to talk to me like…?!"

"I don't have time for this." I glared at him. "I've got to go. There are some kids who need me and, unlike you, I actually give two craps about others." I started to step out the door, then stopped myself, giving him another glare. "Oh, and by the way, I never asked to be born. If your life being ruined was anyone's fault, it was _yours_ for not using a condom." Both Dad's and Fritz's mouths fell open at the same time. I started to walk outside again, then Fritz said

"Wait, Mike." I started to snap impatiently at her, but Fritz turned to Dad.

"Is…is that true?" Dad paled.

"I…I…" He gave me a furious look and started over. On instinct, I flinched, and Fritz gasped.

"Mike? Victor? Fritz?" Mom called from upstairs. The sound of her voice stopped Dad in his tracks, and Fritz seemed to come to a decision.

"That's all I needed to see. Hold on, Mike. I'll come with you." She walked over to me, giving Dad her own glare. "Better than sticking around here."

"Hold on, you two!" I narrowed my eyes at him.

"You were always a pathetic excuse for a father. If something happens tonight and I don't make it back, it'll be better than spending one more day here. With _you_. You can go to hell, old man." The last thing I saw before I walked out with my sister was the defeated, broken look in Dad's eyes.

**A/N**: _Like I said, short chapter is short. Sorry about that :( I promise, the next one will be longer-and MUCH better! But hey, Mike finally told his dad off! Now then, review! Reviews will get the next chapter up faster!_


	30. Animatronics vs Melody

**A/N**: _As promised, this chapter is longer than the last one. Also, it's from Hope's POV, for a change, since we didn't get to see her thoughts yet._

**Disclaimer**: _Scott Cawthon is a married man with kids. I'm a single demiromantic asexual college girl. As such, I'm not Scott Cawthon, and don't own Five Nights at Freddy's._

"Is he still in there?" I nodded sadly, looking inside Pirates' Cove, where Ian had been sitting alone in the darkness since before Freddy Fazbear's opened. Travis walked over to the small opening in the curtains, putting his hands on his hips.

"Look Ian. I don't know what happened yesterday, but you can't just stay in there forever! You have to come out, man!" Ian didn't answer.

"Ian?" I asked. I was really worried about him. I didn't know what was happening to him, and I was really scared. What if it happened to the rest of us? Or worse, what if it was _just _Ian, and I had to watch as my friend went crazy and hurt people again? I mean, yes Travis, Tricia and I could hold him back, but still! When we were alive, he'd always been so sweet and quiet, and seeing him like THAT…

But then again, we weren't alive anymore, were we? We weren't even human. I felt like crying.

Suddenly, my thoughts were interrupted by Tricia's annoyed growl.

"What are _you_ doing here?! Haven't you done enough already?!" I turned around to see Melody floating above us.

"Look, I know you guys don't like me much…"

"Yeah, no kidding!" Travis snapped, interrupting her.

"What did you do to Ian?!" I asked before I could stop myself.

"I didn't do anything!" Melody insisted. "I just came to warn you…"

A red blur suddenly shot out of Pirates' Cove. For the second time in a little more than twelve hours, Ian was standing over someone, looking scary. This time, though, it didn't bother me that much. Somehow, he was able to catch the collar of Melody's shirt with his hook, holding her up to his face.

"Get me out of here." He growled in a low voice. "I don't want to be this way anymore. _Get me out of Foxy!_"

"Me too!" Tricia added in. "I don't want to be Freddy anymore!"

"Get us out of these furballs!" Travis said.

"I don't know how!" Melody shouted, looking panicked.

"_What?!_" Ian almost shrieked in her face, shaking her a little. "You're the one who put us in here! You made us hurt people-you made me hurt my FRIEND!" Melody looked surprised.

"What? But…I thought you wanted revenge…"

"On _who_, exactly?!" Tricia demanded. "Mike's not the guy who killed us! NONE of the people you've sent us after have been!"

"I just want to go home!" I added in, with a sob in my voice. Melody looked from each one of us to the other. It was like she suddenly realized what exactly she'd done to us.

"I…I…" Tricia glared at her.

"Just let her go, Ian. She's not worth it." Ian let her go, and now Melody was the one who looked like she wanted to cry.

"I just wanted to help."

"You've _helped_ enough." I said with a glare. Melody disappeared and Ian turned around, heading back into Pirates' Cove.

"Hey, um, guys?" I asked the twins. "Think you could give us a few moments? I want to try talking to him alone."

"Alright, but I wish you luck with that." Travis said. He and Tricia walked off, and I went inside Pirates' Cove.

"Ian?" He sat back down and buried his head in his knees. I walked forward a little, really scared for him. "Ian, please talk to me."

"…I'm not."

"Huh?"

"I'm not Ian." He answered. "Not anymore-but I'm not Foxy…I don't know who or what I am anymore!" He put his hand and hook to his head with a sob, his soul appearing, and I hurried forward in a panic and grabbed his arms. Foxy and Ian both looked at me as I said

"You're my friend! You helped me, helped all of us! And you've been helping protect innocent people from us when Melody was controlling us!" I got down on my knees, barely noticing the silver glow on my own feathers as I looked into Ian's (or was it Foxy's? Gah! So confusing!) eyes.

"You've been really brave, Ian, and I'm really happy for you! If I'd been in your shoes…I don't think I'd have been able to keep going…"

"Yeah but…I don't know what's happening to me." Ian sniffed. "Something's wrong with me…"

"No!" I said. "Whatever happened, it's over now! You're not trying to hurt anyone!"

"But what if I do again?! I already hurt Mike…I tried to hurt Fritz…" He sniffled. "I'm a monster!"

"Then what does that make me?! Do you think _I'm _a monster, Ian?!"

"No, of course not! I could never…!"

"Then stop talking about yourself that way!" I hugged him, not even caring about his hook and teeth. "You're good! I know you'd never hurt anyone if you could help it." For a while, he just sat there. Then he leaned forward and hugged me, too.

"Hey…" Ian said quietly after a while, "Hope?"

"Yeah?" I pulled out of the hug and looked at him. His soul disappeared, but it didn't matter. Even if he was in Foxy, he was still that shy, quiet boy I'd known when we were alive.

"This…this is kind of like when you visited me when I was seven. You know, when I had the flu?" He smiled a little goofily, and I giggled.

"I remember that. You were so worried that you were going to get me sick too, but I still stayed with you, and hugged you when Uncle Franklin said that we had to go." Ian giggled a little himself, and for a moment it looked like he was back to his old self. Then he sighed, looking back down at the ground.

"Hey…Hope?"

"Yeah?"

I didn't get a chance to find out what he wanted to ask me. Tricia's scream suddenly echoed through the hall.

**A/N**: _Yeah, kids? Should've listened to Melody when she tried to warn you about Jeremy..._

_So, I just want to thank you guys for sticking with me this long. I really appreciate it-especially since I looked back and saw some of the mistakes I made-especially when it comes to Fritz's condition. At some point, I'm going to have to go back and see if I can fix those...but for now, keep being awesome and send me reviews! Please?_


	31. Jeremy wrestles a Chicken

**A/N**: _Back to Mike's POV. Will he be able to save the kids? How will this all end?_

**Disclaimer**_: I don't own Five Nights at Freddy's, and unless I get a DeLorean, time travel back to last year, and create the games before Scott Cawthon, I never will._

I heard the scream as I stepped out of the car. On instinct, I started running towards the back door, the same way Fritz had come in when she broke in.

"Mike?"

"You got your lock picking kit?" I asked.

"Of course!" Fritz handed it over, and I started picking the lock. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her putting her hands on her hips.

"This is a horrible idea. You know that, right Mike?" I ignored her as I got the door open and rushed inside.

"Mike!" Fritz ran after me, and we turned a corner just in time to see Travis staring down at the hacked-up pieces of Freddy/Tricia in horror.

"_What did you do to my sister?!_"

"Same thing I'm about to do to you." Jeremy stepped forward, holding an ax, a malicious smile on his face. "Remember me?"

Travis just kept looking from him to Tricia, paralyzed with fear, and Jeremy's smile grew wider.

"I'll take that as a yes." He lunged forward and started hacking into Travis, who started screaming as he tried to fend him off.

"NO!" I ran out…but it was too late. The chopped-up pieces of Bonnie fell to the floor; her eyes staying lit just long enough for Travis to start to say

"H-hel..." That was all he got out before his eyes went dull, his mouth freezing open. I knew instantly that Travis was gone, and my own mouth fell open in horror.

"Jeremy…what have you _done_?!" He turned to me, holding his ax in both hands.

"Gotten rid of two killer robots." He said nonchalantly. "If memory serves, there are at least two more I have to take care of…"

"Don't toy with me!" I shouted, balling my hands into fists. "This was all because of you! Because you killed those kids all those years ago and hid their bodies in the animatronics!"

"WHAT?!" Fritz exclaimed. I'd almost forgotten she was there.

Jeremy just raised an eyebrow at me, like I'd told a bad joke.

"Figured it out, did you?" I saw red.

"WHY?!" I demanded. "Why did you feel like five innocent children had to die, you bastard?!" Jeremy just glared at me, his grip on the ax tightening.

"Fazbirch did _nothing_ when I lost my son. I figured he'd notice if something happened to his little niece. When I heard she and her friends would be at Freddy's for a birthday, the opportunity was too good to pass up. And what better way to lure them into my trap than with Fredbear, the same thing that took Danny from me? Poetic justice."

"You're a monster!" Fritz shouted.

"I'm a monster?!" Jeremy snapped back. "_I'm _a monster?! Have you forgotten how one of these damned things took a bite out of your head?! How he almost got you a second time…and your brother ended up getting hurt instead?!"

"Because you set us up!" I yelled. "You did something to him, got…"

"A necessary risk." Jeremy sighed, trying to calm down. "I'll admit, my methods weren't the best…but I needed you two out of the way."

"So you tried to get us killed?!" Fritz demanded. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Hope hiding in the hall.

"Look at it this way." Jeremy started. "They would've probably killed you anyway. Because as much as you probably hate or blame me, I didn't actually do anything to make them start killing night guards. They did that on their own. Now if you'll excuse me, I…"

He was cut off by something large and yellow slamming into him. Hope barreled into Jeremy, knocking him down. She tried to grab the ax from his hands, but he held onto it tightly.

"Let go, you little!" Hope turned to Fritz and me.

"Mike, Fritz, run!"

For some reason or another, I couldn't move. I was rooted to the spot, watching her still struggling with Jeremy.

"What are you just standing there for?!" Fritz demanded, tugging on my sleeve. "Let's get out of here!" Jeremy successfully managed to grab his ax back from Hope. She tried to move, but Jeremy was faster. He started to hack into her, and she screamed. That was when I finally found my legs. I started to lunge forward to help, but a second figure shot from the darkness at Jeremy.

"LEAVE HER ALONE!" Ian ran at the evil man, and Jeremy just barely avoided him, giving a smirk.

"Well well. The crybaby's grown a spine, huh? The first time I killed you, you just kept begging for your life. Heh. So tough." Ian screeched at him and probably would've attacked him again…but then he saw me.

"Mike?! W-what are you doing b…"

"Look out!" Hope pushed Ian out of the way as Jeremy tried to chop him, and the blade went straight into her back.

"AUGH!"

"Hope!" Ian screamed.

"What are we supposed to do?!" Fritz demanded of me.

"The office! We can use the phone in there to call the police!"

"Mike…" Jeremy said in a warning tone. I didn't answer. I just grabbed Fritz's hand and waved Ian forward after he'd gotten Hope onto his back. As we ran, my heart was pounding harder than it ever had in all my previous experience here. Because now, I was stuck in Freddy's with a sadistic, cold-blooded murderer.

**A/N**: _This chapter was originally going to be longer. However, I ended up splitting it in two, because I was getting tired. That's just what happens when you write at night. I still like doing it though, because a) I'm more creative at night, and b) since I use writing as a form of escape, I like to make it the last thing I do before going to bed. But enough of that. Only a couple chapters left, guys! *Excited, but also sad*_


	32. Ian and Hope Give up the Ghosts

**Disclaimer**: _Saying I own Five Nights at Freddy's is like saying that Leonardo Dicaprio owns an Oscar. *Prepares to get attacked by rapid Leo Dicaprio fangirls*_

The second we got to the night guard's office, Fritz and I got right to work. I closed both doors and Fritz picked up the phone.

"Hello, police?! We're in trouble-there's a crazy guy with an ax…!" Behind me, Ian set Hope down gently on the floor. She didn't look so good-she was still in one piece, but just barely. She had a lot of slashes in her face and body.

"It…it hurts." She whined a little, grabbing her left wing.

"Hope, hang on!" Ian begged.

"Is that _really _your plan?" Jeremy scoffed from outside. "You're just going to stay holed up in there all night?"

"Why not?" I shot back. "I have experience."

"Yeah, hiding from _them_!" Jeremy shouted. "Open your eyes, Mike! Look at _what_ you're protecting! How many times have you almost died here?! And what about all the people who weren't lucky enough to escape with their lives, huh?! Haven't you wondered how many people have ended up dead because of those things?! They might have been children once, but that was a long time ago! They have to be destroyed!" I started to open my mouth to argue, but stopped myself.

As much as I hated to admit it, he had a point. Before I could stop myself, I flashed back to my tenth birthday, the day of the Bite. Then I remembered my very first near-death experience-when Freddy/Tricia had grabbed me on my third night. Whether they had meant to or not, they had almost killed me at least twice. Not to mention-one of them was the reason I had gotten broken in the first place. Seeing Ian…_Foxy_ biting Fritz on my **birthday**-and then having my dad punish me for it afterwards…all those years I'd spent as a damaged shell because of _him_-because of what he did to my sister…to me…

I was suddenly drawn out of my thoughts by the sound of children crying. I turned around…and my eyes widened.

I swear, I couldn't see Foxy and Chica at all. Ian's and Hope's souls were superimposed over their animatronics, hugging each other as they cried in fear.

"Ian, I'm scared!" Hope cried.

"I know. Me too!" They resumed crying, and out of the corner of my eye I saw Fritz looking at them, her mouth wide open in shock as she looked at me.

"Mike-is this how you _always_ see them?!"

"Not like this." I answered, realizing that it was Fritz's first time seeing what they really were. I couldn't help but notice that Hope's soul, her true self, had the same injuries as Chica. And Ian-I remembered one of the first times I had seen his soul, when he broke down crying on his knees because he missed his friends.

_They don't want this. They NEVER wanted to be this way, or to hurt anyone. _

"You're wrong, Jeremy." I said before I could stop myself. The kids and Fritz looked at me in surprise, and I turned around to glare at the door. "And I'm _not _letting you in." I narrowed my eyes even though I knew he couldn't see me.

"You're _**not**_ going to hurt them again." There was a thud at the door, which meant that Jeremy had hit it with his ax.

"OPEN THAT GODDAMN DOOR!"

"Mike…" Ian said behind me, "Do what he says. Open the door."

"What?!" I said at the same time as the girls. Ian stood up, letting go of Hope. His soul was still visible, and he had a determined look on his face, wiping away tears that weren't there.

"He's not going to just let you go now that you know the truth! He'll kill you, like he did to me and my friends! And I might not be able to stop him-but at least I can buy you some time to escape!" My heart stopped as I realized what he was going to do.

"Ian, _no_."

"Ian!" Hope gave him a pleading look, and Ian looked back down at her sadly.

"Hope, once I run out, you get Mike and Fritz to safety. Okay?" Hope nodded.

"Aye-aye, captain."

"Mike, Fritz…" He looked between us, looking like he wanted to cry again, but also determined, like he was trying to hold his tears in.

"I'm sorry. For _everything_!" At 'everything' he ran over and pressed the door switch with his good hand, letting the metal door slide up.

"Ian no, NO!"

It was too late. With a cry that was a weird combination of Foxy's screech and a _very_ human child scream, he attacked Jeremy, trying to bite him.  
"IAN!" I started to run to help him, only to be grabbed and pulled back. Hope held my arm in her left wing and Fritz's in her right.

"Come on, come on!" She hurried along as best as she could, pulling us towards the exit with her. She was nowhere near as fast as Ian (though that was probably due to all the damage she'd taken), but she did the best she could, and got us away from Jeremy.

"There!" she said, pointing at the door.

"Hold on!" Fritz said. "What about you?!"

"Look at me!" Hope said. "I'm not going to last much longer anyway! Please, just…" She cut off mid-sentence.

"Hope?" Chica's eyes went dull. Her arm fell off (nearly taking mine with it). As Fritz and I watched, she slowly fell to pieces.

"Oh my God…" Fritz said.

"No…" I got down on my knees, picking up her head. "No, no, no, no…"

My eyes filled with tears. They were gone. Those poor kids, who had been killed once already and had to go through this nightmarish existence for so long, the kids I'd tried so hard to save, risked my life coming back night after night for…

"She's not going to answer you, Mike." I froze. Jeremy walked over, his ax in his hands, and a few scratches on him.

"Where's…?!" Fritz started.

"The fox?" Jeremy asked. "He put up a better fight than the first time. But it ultimately wasn't enough." He gripped his ax a little tighter as he looked down at me.

"You know he was right though, don't you Mike? I _can't_ just let you leave. You know too much-_both_ of you." His right hand went to his pocket, and he pulled out a gun. Fritz pulled me to my feet.

"Come on, let's get out of here! The police should be here soon, we'll…"

"It's no use." I said. "He'd kill us before we even got out the door." Jeremy just narrowed his eyes at me as he put his ax down.

"You want to know what the worst part of all this is, Mike? I _really_ didn't want it to have to come to this. All I wanted was to clean up my mess, get on with my life, and not have to shed any more blood, but you just couldn't leave well enough ALONE!" He cocked his gun, pointing it at me.

"Mike!" Fritz pulled on my sleeve.

"_You _go."

"_What_?!"

"One of us should get out alive." I told her. "Make sure that everyone finds out the truth about what happened here." I looked right at Jeremy.

"Just let her go. She's been through enough already." Jeremy glared at me, looking from me to Fritz before seeming to come to a decision.

"Fine." He smirked. "No one will believe you, anyway."

"Mike…" Fritz looked at me.

"_**GO.**_" For once in her life, my sister didn't argue a second time. She ran to the exit, and Jeremy smirked at me.

"Y'know, it's amazing just how noble you are. Gotta say, I'm impressed. Not enough to let you go, though." He raised his gun, his smile fading. "Any last words?"

I balled my hands into fists for the second time that night and gritted my teeth.

"Yeah, but they're _not_ for you!" I turned to the side, my voice softening as I said "Melody? I know you're listening, and I know you're not going to help me, so I won't waste my breath asking you to. While I can't forgive what you made Ian and the others do…what you turned them into-I understand why you did it." A lump formed in my throat, but I forced myself to go on.

"Because in spite of everything, you're still just a little girl. And you're just as much a victim of this as them-maybe even more. You've been through so much, suffered so much pain, loneliness and misery because of some very selfish adults, and I wanted to help you just as much as I wanted to help them!"

By now I was openly crying. It wasn't a pretty sight, but I didn't cared how I looked at the moment. I sniffed.

"So I just wanted you to know that I'm sorry that you had to endure all of that-and I'm sorry that I couldn't save you!" Jeremy lowered his gun a little.

"Wow-you really love those little brats that much?" I didn't answer him. Jeremy's smirk returned as he put his gun away.

"Alright Mike, I'll tell you what. There's one suit left. I'll see to it that you join them." Like Hope before him, he grabbed my arm and pulled me along, though much more roughly. I didn't even try to fight back. Why should I? A person I'd trusted and relied on had lied to me and turned out to be a cold-blooded murderer, Ian and his friends were gone for good…I'd come so far only to fail so miserably…there was nothing left to hope for.

After a little while we reached a closet, which Jeremy opened to reveal another animatronic…and quite a pitiful-looking one at that. It was a rabbit like Bonnie, except a sickly yellowish-green. One of its ears was broken, and it had more scratches and damage to it than Foxy had.

"Say hello to your new body."

**A/N**: _Hands up everyone who wants to kill Jeremy themselves now? Don't worry-he gets his in the very next chapter, I can promise you that. Just have patience. Oh man-I've been itching to write the finale for a good while now-I promise you, it's gonna be epic! But until then, leave me plenty of reviews! Reviews make me write faster!_

_PS. For that guest reviewer who asked-Melody was an accident. Jeremy was trying to kidnap her to prove a point, but when she kept struggling to get away, he lost his temper and...well...you can probably guess the rest..._


	33. I Save the Guy I Tried to Kill

**Disclaimer**: _Roses are red, violets are blue. I don't own Five Nights at Freddy's, and neither do you._

**A/N**: _This chapter's from Melody's POV_

I've done a couple things I was ashamed of in the past. The first thing I can remember was when I got into an argument with my mom when I was five and smashed a bottle of perfume that a guy had given her. _That_ ended badly for me. Then there was the time I tried to shoplift a bag of chips when I was eight. The security guard caught me, and I was so panicked I tried to run off, only for him to grab my arm, and I ended up crying and panicking and making a scene.

Nothing compared to tonight, though.

I…I never realized what I was doing to the others. I didn't even know I had been brainwashing them. I didn't know how angry I was. I thought I was just encouraging them-but looking back on it, it made sense. That's why Ian stopped going after night guards after, well-the Bite.

The Bite. I hadn't meant for things to turn out that way. All I could remember was how loud and annoying that little girl had been. I kept thinking "Shut up! Make her shut up!" And then when, well, it happened, I gasped in shock along with everyone else. I felt bad for Ian afterwards. And now that I knew what I had really been doing to him-to the others…

That led to another thing I was ashamed of. While our killer went after my friends-or the people I _thought_ were my friends…as I heard them screaming-I just sat in the supply closet as he chopped them up and they screamed. I was scared-both of him and of myself.

For the first time, I recognized fully what I'd been doing. I hurt innocent people because I was angry-because I wanted them to suffer for no other reason than that they were night guards. And what was worse, I had forced other kids to help me do it. I had trapped them in the animatronics-and now I was hurting them by turning them into my slaves.

I thought back to the night Hope first started to resist my control, begging me not to make her kill Mike. To all the times I'd forced Tricia to face her own brother. To Ian, who spent most of his time alone in Pirates' Cove, and spent years alone, facing his own friends to try and protect night guards. The kid was _nine years old_. All of them were younger than me, and I'd trapped them here in this nightmare with me. If anyone was a monster here, it was me.

Which is why I was surprised when Mike started talking to me. As he spoke, my first instinct was to not believe him. It was second nature for me-after all; I'd grown up knowing that adults lie.

But then again-Mike wasn't an adult…not really, since he wasn't even out of his teens. Besides, as I listened to him, I heard genuine emotion in his words. He cared about ALL of us. About _me_. He really wanted to save me, in spite of everything?

_Maybe he's not so bad after all…_

That's when I came to a decision. I teleported to where Mike and Jeremy were. I didn't bother bringing Goldie along-Jeremy would just slice through him, like he had with the other kids. I appeared in front of him, giving the most terrifying glare I could.

"_Leave him alone._" Jeremy, who had been trying to shove Mike into the broken-down Spring Bonnie suit, stopped as he saw me, his mouth falling open in shock and horror.

"You…"

Just then, I got a surprise of my own as the other kids' souls started to appear around us. First was Tricia, who glared down at Jeremy

"You're not going to do to Mike what you did to us!"

"No…"

Travis' form melted out from the opposite wall.

"We won't let you kill anyone else!"

Jeremy let out a panicked cry as Ian appeared. Ian, however, turned to Mike, giving him an encouraging look.

"Don't worry. We won't kill him."

"That's right." Hope said as she appeared. "We're just going to make sure he never hurts anyone _ever_ again." She glared at Jeremy, who made a sound like a dying animal.

"HOW THE HELL ARE YOU STILL HERE?! I KILLED YOU BRATS! I KILLED YOU **TWICE**!" He pulled a gun out. "WHY WON'T YOU JUST DIE?!" He shot at Travis. Of course, the bullet just passed right through him, hitting the wall.

"_WHY WON'T YOU STAY DEAD?!_" He shot a couple more bullets at me, then at Hope. I never even felt the bullet. We all moved forward as one, lunging towards Jeremy.

For the first time, I felt that we were all on the same page. Our murderer was here, in front of us, and he was trying to kill someone else the same way he killed us. Someone the others considered a _friend_. It didn't matter whether or not we had our animatronic suits. Jeremy apparently felt the same way, as he dropped his gun and cried out in panic as he tried to get away. He tried running down the hall, but Ian blocked his path. Tricia then came behind him, and Jeremy let out a shout, moving to get away from her.

"Stay back! Stay away from me!" We closed in on him, and I could see the fear in Jeremy's eyes as he searched around desperately for something, _anything _to help him.

Finally, he found it. His eyes fell on the Spring Bonnie suit, and, seemingly forgetting about the fact that he just tried to use it to kill Mike, he shoved him out of the way, making a mad dash for the yellow bunny spring suit. He hurriedly slipped inside it before whipping around, beaming crazily at all of us.

"What are you going to do now, huh?!" He let out a laugh. "You can't do anything to me now! _You brats can't touch me now_!"

He threw his head back and started to laugh triumphantly…until something snapped inside the suit. Or, rather, a bunch of somethings. The springs inside the suit all locked into place, slicing into Jeremy's flesh.

"Augh! What?! NO!" He realized his mistake, but it was too late. Jeremy desperately tried to pull the suit off, but that just made it worse. He turned to Mike in agony, a pleading look on his face.

"Mike, help me! _Please!_" Mike had a shocked and horrified look, but he shook his head, a glare crossing his features.

"_**No.**_" Jeremy looked at him in disbelief and fear for about a second before sinking to the ground as blood started to leak through the suit. As all six of us watched, he twitched for a few more seconds before going completely still. It was over. After all these years, we'd finally gotten the man who killed us. Jeremy Fitzgerald was no more.

**A/N**: _This chapter was originally going to be longer-I ended up splitting it in two because it was getting late. Well, Jeremy's finally got what was coming to him. Fair warning-the next chapter is going to give you a SERIOUS case of the feels. _

_Okay, so I'd like to take a moment to thank my newest reviewers-Inuyashagirl312, , and cinque-sei. I'm really glad that you guys have been enjoying my story-well, I'm thankful for ALL of you. Everyone who's read, faved, and reviewed-you guys keep me going. Oh, hey, I just noticed-even though a couple people caught onto the hint with Jeremy's shirt, you all missed an earlier hint-remember when Jeremy wiped his mouth with a purple napkin when he and Mike were talking about the kids? Well, anyway, leave me some reviews, please. Happy Halloween in advance, guys!_


	34. Saying Goodbye

**A/N**: _I hope everyone had a happy Halloween. I had fun-went to my cousins' place in New York and watched the Halloween parade (though trying to get out afterwards was HELL -_-) Well, anyway, as a late Halloween present, here's the next chapter, set back in Mike's POV_

**Disclaimer**: _If I owned Five Nights at Freddy's, it would've been more like this._

I'm not sure how much time passed. It could've been five seconds. It could've been ten. Heck, it could've been an hour. I kept mentally replaying what I'd just seen over and over again in my mind. The dead kids had come back. They'd saved me-and Jeremy had dived into the suit, pretty much committing suicide as it malfunctioned on him. Given the fact that he'd been planning to shove me inside that same suit, it was pretty stupid. Maybe he was desperate to escape and just forgot? Whatever the case, he was dead now. Really, truly gone.

"Mike?" Ian floated over to me, looking concerned. "Are you okay?" I nodded slowly.

"Yeah-I'll be okay." I looked from him to all the others, looking them over. The first thing I noticed was that Hope's injuries were gone-probably because she was free of her proxy body. I looked over at the twins, realizing that it was my first time seeing them as they really were. Tricia had pigtails and overalls, and Travis had dreadlocks. Looking at them now, it was obvious how alike they looked, even if they WERE ghosts. They were definitely twins. I then looked at Melody-and noticed for the first time that now she looked like the others. She wasn't grayish-black and evil-looking anymore, but silver, with gray tear marks. Before I could stop myself, a huge smile spread over my face.

"You're alright. All of you-you're out. You're _free_."

"Thanks to you." Hope smiled at me. "If you hadn't come around…"

"But I didn't actually do anything to save you." I said, my smile fading. "Jeremy destroyed your animatronic bodies."

"They were trapped." Melody said, looking down at the ground guiltily. "I…I didn't realize just what I was doing. What I'd done. I trapped them here with me, and as time passed and I got angrier…" She sighed. "If you hadn't come and saved their souls-they would've been stuck in there forever, even after Jeremy destroyed their animatronics." Melody looked around at the others, guilt obvious on her face.

"I'm sorry for what I did to you all. I just…"

"It's in the past now." Tricia said, shrugging it off. "We're out now." Coincidentally as soon as she said this, Melody started to disappear, her particles slowly starting to drift away. She looked down at herself in surprise as she started to fade.

"What the…?" Travis said in surprise. Melody looked at the others, then at me, smiling a little in gratitude.

"Thank you…Mike Schmidt." Soon, she was gone. The same thing that had happened to her then started happening to Tricia. I suddenly realized what was going on.

"Your souls are free now." I said quietly. "You can all rest in peace."

I should've been happy. This was what I had been working so hard for. I kept coming back night after night to free them. But now that they were actually disappearing in front of my eyes…I felt like a huge rock had settled in my stomach.

"Mike?" I looked back up at Tricia just in time to see her disappear completely. Travis raised an eyebrow as he started to fade himself.

"Hey, man, what's with the waterworks?!"

"Huh?" I touched my hand to my face, and suddenly realized that I was crying. Travis shook his head, a smirk on his face.

"You're a weird guy, you know that?" And with that, he was gone. Next Hope started to fade away.

"Wait!" I said, my voice sounding more choked than I wanted. Hope looked at me. "Will…will I ever see you again?" She smiled gently at me.

"Of course! But not for a long, long time, okay?" I automatically nodded, and Hope gave me one last kind smile before disappearing. Finally, Ian started to fade. I let out a shaky sob. For the second time that night, flashbacks started running through my mind. My first night of work, when I'd met Ian for the first time, and he'd protected me. When he told me what he really was, and I vowed to help him and his friends. When we'd had to hide out in Pirates' Cove. When I'd had to calm him down by hugging him after we saw Sal ripped apart in front of us.

This little ghost boy-the first friend I'd ever had, had become like a little brother to me. And now he was literally fading away. I knew it was selfish to wish that he and the others could've stuck around longer…but they were my _friends_. I couldn't help but feel like I was being left all alone again.

Ian must've sensed how I felt, because before I knew it he flew right up to me, throwing his little arms around me in a hug, which I returned. He was crying himself now, actual tears matching the marks on his cheeks. This time, however there was a bright smile on his face.

"Thanks, Mike." He whispered with a sob. "Thank you for everything you did for me and my friends." He smiled sadly at me, his glowing yellow eyes looking brighter than usual. "I'll never, ever forget you."

And then he was gone.

I was barely aware of the sirens blaring outside, indicating that the police had _finally_ come. Hell, I barely even noticed when the police came in and saw me bawling my eyes out all over the floor. They mumbled something about 'trauma', put a blanket over me, and ushered me outside. It was so surreal I hardly noticed. I stood next to Fritz, looking at the 'Freddy Fazbear's' sign and thinking of the children whose souls were once housed in those animatronics, and who were now finally free from their pain and misery, free to enjoy eternal paradise.

_Goodbye._

**A/N**_: *Ugly sobbing* I just...I can't right now. I mean, yes, I've been waiting to write this part for a long time now, but I just...I...*Cries again* It's not over quite yet though, there's one more real chapter to go, plus something extra. Stay tuned! And, as always, review!_


	35. I Get a (Very) Late Birthday Present

**A/N**: _This is the last actual chapter. After this, it will be only the epilogue left-and I'm confident in saying that when you're done reading that, you'll be BEGGING me for more. Fair warning, there's a character death in this one...though I don't think it's anyone you'll miss..._

**Disclaimer**: _All I own is a few secondary characters. _

This is probably the part where you're expecting me to say that my life magically got a thousand times better after my misadventures at Freddy's. That is not what happened.

First of all, Fritz and I had to go to the police station for almost two hours for questioning. I guess it was inevitable. I mean, Fritz calls about a crazy guy with an ax, and once the police show up they find nobody but two teenagers who broke in and entered, and a bunch of chopped-up animatronic pieces? I'm not going to lie; I was scared that I was going to jail. I was able to keep myself from doing my usual laugh as they asked us question after question and took our fingerprints. God must've been on our side, however, because they didn't find our fingerprints on the ax and eventually let us go, deciding that we must've just been some stupid kids who broke in for the hell of it and the night guard tried to chase us out with an ax, flipping out and destroying the animatronic characters in the process. Of course, there was the question of where said current night guard was-good thing they didn't notice the fresh blood coming from the Spring Bonnie suit…

The cops let us go with a warning not to break in and enter again. Neither Fritz nor me had any arguments, and I evaded my mom's questions to go to my room and sleep for twelve hours.

My nap was unpleasantly interrupted about halfway through by my dad committing suicide.

I heard a loud 'bang' from downstairs and jolted awake. Confused and more than a bit scared, I went down the stairs nervously to see my dad lying on the floor with a gun in his mouth, blood pooling around his head.

The story, as my mom told it, was that shortly after me and Fritz had left, she finally got inspired to tell Dad off herself after nineteen years trapped in a loveless marriage with a violent, abusive piece of shit like him. She called Dad a horrible excuse for a father, husband, and human being (she also said something else about him, but since I know there are at least a few younger kids reading this, I'm not going to repeat it).

I guess the shock of having both his son and wife call him out in one night was too much for dad. Plus, with the realization that _he_ ruined his own life by blaming me for everything instead of actually going out and making something of himself…yeah.

I know this might sound weird considering all the emotional and occasionally physical abuse he heaped on me over the years, but I felt guilty. I'd broken my dad, like he'd broken me. And he took his own life because of it. When I told this to my mom during Dad's funeral, she took me aside and hugged me, telling me that I had _nothing_ to apologize for. I was a good son and a lovely person, and while the circumstances under which I was born weren't ideal, she NEVER regretted that I was. She ended by apologizing again for not sticking up for me, saying that she should've just taken me and Fritz and left the first day she saw Dad yelling at me.

That was one good thing that came from all of this-I started to develop a better relationship with Mom. In spite of everything, I learned that she really did care for and love me-she was just too scared of Dad to stick up for me. I couldn't hold that against her. Likewise, my relationship with Fritz slowly started to mend. The other day she took me up to her room and showed me the present she'd been meaning to give me on my tenth birthday all those years ago-a tiny plushie version of Foxy. Needless to say, it's my new favorite thing. We still snipe at each other sometimes-like I'll tease Fritz about her eyebrows, and she'll swear at me, but we're TRYING to be nicer to each other. You know what they say, old habits die hard. Plus, it WAS really nice of her to hold onto my gift for all those years, especially given what had happened...

I went back to Freddy's the next week-after all, I still had a job to do. I was _finally_ able to confront Mr. Fazbirch about everything, and he admitted that he had been wrong to keep the restaurant going for as long as he did after people started dying. I talked him into staying overnight and helping me retrieve the kids' bodies from their animatronics, along with as many former night guards as we could find. If nothing else, I at least wanted to make sure they got proper burials. They deserved that. After saying goodbye to his niece, Fazbirch sighed that he needed to retire. For once, we had something we could agree on. Once my macabre task was done, I resigned from my position as night watchman. I had no reason to go back now-the kids' souls were free, and could rest in peace. Of course, that meant that I had no job now, no way to provide for myself. Which was how, two months later, I found myself at Summer's house, talking about the future.

* * *

"So, you're working with your mom at her bookstore now?" Summer asked, lifting a piece of beef to her mouth.

"Yeah." I answered around a mouthful of Chinese food. I swallowed, then said "It's just part-time, but it's something. Plus, if I don't get accepted back into college…"

"Don't say things like that." Summer put her hand over mine. "You've gotta have more faith in yourself, Mike. I mean, look at everything you've been through. And yet you're still here." She smiled at me, and despite myself, I felt my face get a little warmer.

Were we boyfriend and girlfriend now, you may be asking? The truth is, I don't even know. I mean yeah we'd gotten closer and started hanging out more, but we hadn't done the whole 'dinner and a movie' thing, or kissed (except for once or twice, when she'd kissed me on the cheek).

"Thanks, Summer." I said quietly.

"No problem." She said, smiling at me. "After all, you only sent out your application a couple weeks ago. Give it some time." She removed her hand, and I slurped down some more Chinese.

"Besides," Summer finished, "If you can survive working at Freddy's, I'm sure normal life won't be too hard for you." I stared at her.

"Wha…"

"You should go." She said. "It's getting pretty late. Don't want your mom and Fritz to worry now, do you?"

"…no." I slowly stood up, packaging the rest of my food and heading out the door. I had a feeling that Summer knew more than she was letting on. Then again, in my life, who didn't?

Plus, however she meant it, she wasn't wrong.

**A/N**: _Okay, so I'd just like to take this moment to thank everyone who's read, faved, followed, and reviewed this story. I have had so much fun writing this, and it was partly because of you guys. Your kind words really inspired me, kept me going, and I'm honored that this seems to be my most popular story here-especially considering the hundreds of other FNAF fics out there. So thanks a lot guys, you're all awesome :) Stay tuned for the epilogue!_


	36. Epilogue

**A/N**: This epilogue is very short, compared with the rest of the story. But still important. Just think of it as a post credits scene.

Now, before we actually get to it, I want to give special shout-outs to some very awesome people

XXPay4XtraShippingsXX for the awesome cover image you drew for me (not to mention the icon for my Tumblr blog based on my FNAF verse ;)

That one random guest for giving me the idea to have Phone Guy possessing Golden Freddy

Elhini Prime for being so supportive of me, and sticking around to read this story for so long (if you guys haven't read her 'Soul' series yet, GO READ IT, IT'S AWESOME)

Tumblr user the-oc-squad for giving me the idea for how to free the kids' souls via our rps-I don't know if you even have a account to read this, but all the same, they really helped (plus, the rps were fun to do :)

LucarioMaster41 for spreading my story to Wattpad, and asking my permission beforehand, and on that note...

That 'Inactive' Action for thinking that PLS is awesome enough to turn into a comic on DA, and offering to post links to my story when you do it. I just CAN'T get over that-send me a note when you start posting it, okay?! I consider it an honor of the highest caliber to see a comic based on my fanfic! :D

And EVERYONE, new and old, who's read, reviewed, faved, and followed my story. All of you guys are awesome, and I'm so happy that something I did got this much attention :) Now all I need is for someone to make a TV Tropes page for Poor Little Souls, and I'll be golden. Yeah...I'm a needy little attention whore...^^

Well, enough of that now-here's the final part!

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Five Nights at Freddy's. However, I have recently acquired an FNAF shirt, so I'm relatively happy.

"_Fazbear's Frights?" The day guard looked at his boss, an eyebrow raised in surprise and skepticism._

"_Yes." Jasmine Nott, a thirty-five-year-old woman with brown hair pulled back in a bun, sharp gray eyes, and a prim business suit looked at the man. After Mr. Fazbirch had decided to retire, he put the pizzeria up for sale, and Jasmine had bought it off of him. _

"_Let's face it; the animatronics were always pretty creepy. I think this place would have real potential if we rebuilt it as a horror attraction."_

"_Well, you've got a point." The worker admitted, nodding his head in agreement. "So…what? We're going to rebuild the original animatronics or something, make them scarier?"_

"_Let's go to my office to talk more." The two of them walked outside, paying no attention to the animatronic figure that was sitting in the closet behind them. _

_The form of Spring Bonnie sat slumped against the wall, the corpse of one Jeremy Fitzgerald rotting away inside of him. Those police officers were TERRIBLE at their jobs. If they'd investigated a little more, taken a closer look at the animatronic bunny, they might've seen the blood coming from it. _

_Mike Schmidt would've been in __**jail**__._

_Instead, he was as free as a bird and out living his life while Jeremy had lost EVERYTHING. His son, his life, and now, little by little-his sanity. Why?! Why had he had to be the one to suffer?!_

_Okay yes, so he'd killed five children to prove a point and that was wrong...but they were the same, he and Schmidt. Both had been night guards at Freddy Fazbear's, both had witnessed a loved one get hurt by one of the Fazbear's animatronics. The difference was that Jeremy had been better prepared. He'd played his pieces expertly like any good chess master, letting everything fall into place so things could work in his favor. Schmidt was just some kid who got lucky. _

_**He **__should've been the one to die. __**He **__should be the one rotting in this hell. Instead, Jeremy had died because of him…and the brats. _

_But it wasn't over yet. Not by a long shot. He'd come back-like he did every night to try and save the kids. Even after the Bite of '87. Even after he'd gotten attacked by one of the kids. He knew it._

**He always comes back.**

_Unseen by anybody, the sickly-looking yellow rabbit animatronic bolted up, its eyes glowing a greenish-yellow._

**A/N**: I'm going to go ahead and confirm what you're all no doubt thinking now-yes, there IS going to be a sequel to this story, based on the events of FNAF 3 :) However, I won't actually start working on it for a little while-I want to work on at least one other story first, plus I need to put together ideas and everything. I can tell you one thing though-the sequel is going to be MUCH more violent and bloody than Poor Little Souls. You thought Jeremy was bad before?! Just you guys wait-Springtrap is going to be a sadistic, gleefully tortorous monster with a lust for blood. At least one character is going to die horribly. _You have been warned._

Well, until next time! All of you keep on being awesome, and I'll see you in the sequel, whenever that may come out! Buh-bye! ;D


	37. AN: News

_Hey everyone, it's your girl Shadowfang14! WOW, it has been a long time, hasn't it? I bet you didn't expect to see anything more from this story, did you? Truth is, I didn't expect to do anything more for it—especially since I've officially left the FNAF fandom._

_Yeah, it was fun while it lasted, and I loved working on this story and RPing on my Tumblr account as Mike, Ian, and all the others, but I just felt it was time to move on. I mean, I've got two webcomics I want to work on at some point, and I knew I wasn't going to get anything done with them if I kept focusing all my time, energy, and creativity on an idea that wasn't really mine to begin with. However, I was inspired by another fanfiction author on here to go back and tweak my stories, and post revised editions of them on Wattpad. It was pretty fun to revisit my FNAF stories, and it was a huge relief for me as well to go back and fix any and all mistakes I made. While I loved working on Poor Little Souls, there were just some parts in them that looking back on them, it just made me internally facepalm and say 'UGH, I should've written that differently' or 'I shouldn't have had that character say THAT'. Plus, I figured I'd give one last big gift to everyone who loved this story._

_I mentioned the story revisions in one of the latest chapters of 'Under Gravity: The Skeletwins' Story', but that story doesn't get nearly as much attention as PLS did, so I figured I'd make the announcement again here, where it all started. My Wattpad name is Shadowfang14, same as on , and they're probably not presented all that spectacularly, compared to other Wattpad stories, but yeah—I've posted revised versions of Poor Little Souls, as well as my side stories on there. Don't expect to see 'A Place for Him' though…I don't think there's any way to save that story. And truthfully, the main reason I wrote it in the first place was to appease to my fanbase. Not one of my better moments ^^'_

_To this day, Poor Little Souls has gotten the most attention out of any of my stories on here, and I can safely say that it wouldn't have gotten as far as it did without all your faves, follows, and reviews. You guys are awesome, and I am so thankful for all your feedback. So yeah, go check out the revised editions of the stories if you want…I hope you like them as much as the original Poor Little Souls and the other stories! Stay awesome, everyone! _㈴1


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